Fighting Insanity
by JaydeeLM
Summary: Renae returns to her home in Rook two years after Jason Brody left. She's looking for the truth, but first she has to fight the insanity that has engulfed her family, her friends and the island and one man thats teetering beyond the line of losing his humanity all together. She'll have to fight her own insanity, as well as his.
1. Chapter 1

We could finally see the islands in the distance, and for the first time in weeks, the captain was speechless. It felt like we'd been stuck on this boat for ages, but the wretched smell, the freezing nights, the ocean storms, they'd actually been worth it. Even the boat had made it, although we'd sunk nearly three times and the damn engine, man, that thing was just temperamental. I was surprised it'd actually got us here alive.

It'd taken me a whole three years to find a captain willing to travel to an island that wasn't on the map, and who was also willing to take me all the way there instead of dumping me half way, so I couldn't really argue when he showed me his boat. I didn't have anyone else to choose from.

I couldn't see it then, but now I could see why he used it. They were like two sides of a coin, old and broken in looks, but hard as steel and absolutely fearless. The captain I found was called Ronald Murphy, and his fishing resumé might not have been able to beat the pirates, that supposedly ran the island, but he was always ready for an adventure.

He also never asked the questions that everyone else wanted answers too. He had his reasons, and I had mine. He also never asked how I knew the way. He didn't even argue that there was nothing there on the map, like most of the other captains had. I didn't have to mention that I'd been born on Rook. He didn't need to know and he didn't seem to care.

"I didn't expect it to be that beautiful" the captain broke the beautiful silence that had engulfed us, and all I could do was smile. The sun was starting to set, and the moon was rising behind the island, illuminating the sands and the jungle and just the sheer beauty of everything around it.

Somehow, I pulled myself away from the scene and made my way down in to the cabin. It was was a decent size for such a small boat. It looked like it'd been painted some sort of mustardy colour, but I was sure that was from the years of cigars and cigarettes the captain kept hidden in the cupboard above his bed. The cabin was big enough to fit two small beds, a wooden set of drawers and a wardrobe that was slowly falling apart.

I sat down on my bed and pulled the steel container out from under it. I unlocked it and took out the revolver the captain had given me a few weeks in to the trip, making sure I loaded it before sticking it in my front pocket.

Neither of us were actually betting on the rumors of slave trading pirates to be true, but we'd both decided to be safe than sorry, and from the stories we'd heard at the last port, for all we knew, we could have been walking in to a sea of madman.

When I got back up on the deck, the captain was heading to a small, weather beaten dock, just off the beach.

"We can set up camp for the night" he told me as I stood next to him, entranced with the paradise that was now at our fingertips, "Tomorrow, we can find some natives and hope they don't kill us". I wish I could of said that he sounded sarcastic, but he didn't. There was something in the air, something bad, we could feel it, but the beauty overshadowed the fear, and made everything feel a little better.

Once we were parked, I jumped off the boat and went straight to the sand. The day I'd left, I'd had no time to say goodbye, so it just felt nice to be home again. Everything was like I remembered, an undisturbed paradise. It was also nice to be back on dry land, I wasn't the best of sea passengers.

Whilst I was enjoying the view, the captain had been investigating the small dock hut that looked in better shape than the dock itself. He came out with a lantern and lit it up with a match. He placed it on the window ledge of the hut and started to unwrap the rope he had on his arm.

"I'm just gonna make sure there's no tigers", I told him as I walked to the edge of the jungle, I heard him laugh as he started to tie up the boat. I decided to follow the edge of the shrubs, my gun in my hand just in case I did stumble on to some unwanted welcomers.

I kept walking along the sand, listening to the ocean and the sounds of the island before coming to some sort of path that led in to the jungle. I looked back at the captain to find him gazing in to the jungle.

_One look couldn't hurt..._

I walked down it and fell completely in love with it all over again. Everything about this place was absolutely breathtaking. The wild flowers, the way the moon light shone through the tree's, the small of the jungle. It stirred a part of me I thought I'd lost, but then I spotted something. At first my mind dismissed it, but then I saw a vulture fly down on to the ground, completely unfazed by my prescence. The sand was stained a dark colour of red, and the way it shone in the moon light, I knew it was fresh. I was just about to investigate, but then everything went quiet.

The gun shot made me jump.

_Fuck, fuck, fuck!_

I turned and run, a feeling of dread reigning upon me as I came back in to view of the boat. The captain was on his knees, holding his stomach, whilst two men stood above him, pointing their assault rifles at him.

I crouched in to the shrubbery. The men were dressed symmetrically, both wearing red tank tops, black khaki pants, and balaclava's that covered the bottom of their faces.

My hands shook as I took out my revolver, pulled the hammer back and aimed. I had to do it. I couldn't even think. I pulled the trigger and the bullet shot the one closest to me right in the back of the head. He fell straight to the ground, making the other fly round, his eyes catching sight of me before he was tackled to the ground by the captain. After the initial wrestle, the captain rolled off him, a knife plunged in to the pirates neck.

_Shit..._

In no more than ten seconds, the two of them were dead. I ran towards the boat as the captain managed to roll himself on, making a series of grunts and groans as he held on to his stomach. Gun shots came from within the jungle, and somehow, I managed to yank the knife from the dead guys neck, causing blood to spurt all over my hand and cut the rope before I threw myself in to the boat, trying to dodge the bullets that were coming in my direction.

The sight of the blood was making my stomach turn. I'd never shot anyone before. I'd shot a deer, even a dingo, but never another person... The scene kept running through my head, over and over again, but then I heard the gun shots getting closer. and I knew I'd I just have to man up and deal with it. I didn't have a choice.

"Renae, their pirates" the captain yelled to me as I went to the ignition, "There really are pirates", I don't know whether he was shouting to dull the pain or if the loss of blood was turning him mad...

I pressed the button, but it didn't switch on.

_Of all the fucking times!_

I started jamming it, even though I could hear the captain was protesting about it in the background,

"Shut up" I screamed at him, I really didn't need this right now. I looked back and froze, a convoy of pirates had just turned up on the beach. The captains shouting brought me back as I banged the control panel with my fist and without warning, we jerked forward, the engine finally deciding to listen. I pressed another couple of buttons, trying to remember the order that Murphy would use and all of a sudden, we were on our way.

I'd never been able to steer the boat, so I left the wheel, hoping to god that the pirates didn't catch up with us. I rushed over to the captain and kneeled down next to him. He was lying on the deck, holding his stomach, rocking back and forth, trying to subdue the pain.

"What can I do?",

"Aid kit" Murphy groaned, "Cabin",

I could hear a motorboat coming towards us. I saw the bullets fly inches away from me as I went to the stairs and down in to the cabin. As I reached the bottom, I stepped in to the water that was seeping it's way through the bullet holes in the boat. There was nothing I could do whilst the captain was still in danger, so I ignored it, hoping the water would reserve itself a bit until we got farer away from the pirates.

I went to the cupboard that hung loosely above Murphy's bed and pulled the aid kit out, but suddenly everything else fell out as the boat started to rock back and forth, the engine failing.

I rushed back up on to the deck, but on the last step, I slipped, fell, and smacked my head on the fish cage. I rolled around and for a second, I just stared up at the sky. I could hear the captain moaning in pain beside me and I think the guilty feeling was the only thing that motivated me to crawl over to him. I pulled the bandage out of the bag as I reached him, but suddenly the boat started to rock even more. I knew they'd caught us and the smack on the back of the head knocked me unconscious.

* * *

A/N

I'm really bad at writing opening scenes... I can never really get my head around them..

Thank you for reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

_I was floating through the tree's, a serene sort of peace washing over me as I brushed through the leaves. _

_I came to a river and took a tentative a step on to the water. A feeling of dread washed over me, and it looked like even the tree's started to move, as if they were ready to pull me from the depths, but I didn't fall in. I started to walk across the flowing water, heading towards the waterfall that fell lightly on the rocks below._

_There was no pain, no worry in that one instance, and as I got closer to the waterfall, I imagined myself climbing up it, but I walked straight through._

_A sudden heat overtook me, as if I'd walked straight through a wall of fire before I started to fall._

_"Me or them"_

_"I can't do this"_

_"No, please"_

_"Run, run, run!"_

_I smacked the ground and screamed in pain._

Only nothing, but a mumble, passed my lips. I opened my eyes to the hell that was in front of me. Pirates. Bars. Chains. Prisoners. Screams….

_So. Many. Screams_

I shut my eyes and suddenly it all came flooding back. The pirates, the boat, the gun shot, Murphy.

_Shit_

I didn't want to open my eyes, but I had to know if he was still alive. I opened my eye's to the darkness, but there were lanterns and torches lighting the camp up. I went to turn my head, to get a better look at what was around me, but everything started to hurt. I tried to relax, but every movement, every sound, it made my body clench up and tense, as if it'd only now just woken up to the pain.

I could feel something in my mouth, some sort of cloth, and I could see my feet were tied together with some rope. My arms were being held above my head and I could feel the binds pulling at my wrists, as if I'd already tried to escape, but failed. I tried to keep my body still, trying to block out all the noises, the laughter, the screams, but when I heard the gun shot, I flinched; tugging my arm forward and feeling a sharp pain run through my shoulder.

_Great…_

I tried to think back to what had happened, but all I could remember was being hit over the head, and that was one of the things that didn't hurt.

Three pirates patrolled the area, walking back and forth past the prisoners, stopping every now and then to light up a fag or examine the rifles they were carrying, as if they were trying to assert their dominance.

In front of us was a stage, and around us were a number of huts and guard posts.

There only seemed to be a handful of pirates at first, but all of a sudden, more started to appear, a bit like vultures to a kill.

People started to shout from behind me and I looked down at my feet, they were shouting about some prisoner. I saw a pirate drag an unconscious man passed my cage. He had tattoos all over his arms and face; it took me seconds to realise what he was. Another was dragged past, but he was awake, kicking his feet and screaming as he was dragged across the ground by his arms.

"The gods will strike you down and take away everything you hold dear",

"They already have" someone shouted back.

All of sudden, a man ran passed my cage, a sense of urgency and determination plastered across his face as he looked for the best possible escape route.

"Shoot him" someone shouted before a machine gun was let loose from up on one the balconies and sprayed the escapee with bullets. He was still alive as he fell to the floor and rocked around on the ground, groaning in pain. One of the pirates jumped on top of him and started hitting him, every punch making him quieter and quieter before the groaning stopped. The pirate stood up, spat on him and then walked away, gesturing to one of the other pirates as he went out of sight. The pirate picked up the dead man and dragged him away.

The Rakyat warrior's were just play things to these pirates.

On the stage, the four Rakyat warriors were now knelt, awaiting their fate. The unconscious one was awake, but just barely. His head was bobbing up and down, as if he was trying to force himself to stay awake. The poor boy couldn't of been any older than eighteen. The other three were much older, and all seemed to have a bit more fight left in them, but then a pirate got up on stage with them, and all that fighting spirit fled from their bodies. He never looked at the audience, he looked at each and every warrior, as if to make sure they were all pure white and absolutely terrified. I've never seen a warrior so helpless, so absolutely terrified of a man probably half their size. He looked like any other pirate, but to them, he must of looked like Satan.

"This is what you always wanted" he shrugged as he walked up and down the line, "Your choices have brought you here, and now; you will be punished". The pirate took out his gun, and I expected them to be shot, but then he held it up and four women were brought out, all of them sobbing, but unharmed.

They were pushed to the floor in front of the stage. In the torch light, I recognised them as natives, and the first one in line was heavily pregnant. She looked like she could have but days left.

I heard someone in a cage next to me start to protest and the pirate on the stage turned round. I looked away, I didn't even want to see his face. Man, if the Rakyat warriors were scared of him, I'd be fucking terrified! I guess he must of pointed at the prisoner, giving him a role in this little stage play he was performing. I looked over slightly and saw a pirate drag him out of his cage. The man was dressed in a black suit, and looked relatively clean and unharmed.

The pirate put a pistol in to his hands as he reached the stage.

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to think about what was about to happen, but the noises made my imagination run wild.

A woman started to scream, and a man started shouting. At first, it was in Rakyat language, but then it turned to English,

"Please, leave them alone" he begged, "Please, leave the baby alone",

I imagined that the pregnant women was being held down and having her stomach cut in to as the warrior watched, too beaten and broken to do anything, but beg. I felt vomit come in to my mouth, but I couldn't do anything, but swallow it again. My throat burned and I tried to block it out, squeezing my eyes shut, hoping that somehow it'd stop the noise, but then two shots fired, one after another, made the shouting stop.

It was merely seconds before they started on the next couple.

The second woman pleaded with them,

"I'll do anything" she cried as I heard something hit the floor, which I could only guess was the next warrior. I heard a series of grunts and moans, it was as if he was being kicked the crap in to. "Please, stop it" she begged.

Her wish was granted and the two shots fired...

After a couple seconds of silence, I heard the next woman scream as I heard what sounded like slashing. I imagined the warrior being mauled with a hatchet, having his limbs cut off as the women watched, screaming.

"Please, please, please!"..

It only stopped when the gun shot.

Six gun shots, that meant that only two prisoners were left.

"If you don't shoot him, we'll throw him to the tiger". I saw the scene in my head, the girl was holding the gun and aiming it at the warrior, shaking, sobbing. It was seconds before I heard the gun shot, and from the cheer's of the pirates I knew she'd done it. Sometimes, you just gotta do it. There was a deadly silence before I heard the next one.

I opened my eyes, dreading what these savages had left...

* * *

It took me ages to get this chapter out, I've already written up to chapter five, but I just haven't had any time this week. College is throwing stuff at me, but hopefully, I'll be able to amend chapter three and get out a bit quicker...

Gamergirl9 - Thank you :)

LFJohnson99 - Thank you and eventually :)


	3. Chapter 3

The stage was full of blood. There were corpses all over the floor and the man in the black suit was knelt in the middle of it, sobbing. The pirate that had been up on the stage patted him on the back and went to walk away, telling the other pirates to clean up the mess when there was another gunshot. The man in the suit fell to the ground.

The pirate muttered something before going back over to him and rolling him over. He'd shot himself.

_Sometimes, you just can't forgive yourself._

"Renae..." I heard a whisper and looked over to see the captain in the cage next to me. I hadn't even noticed him. I felt a wave of relief flood through my body. He was alive!

His overall was soaked in blood and he had bruises all over his face. His eyes were black and his throat looked red raw, as if he'd been burned.

I couldn't do anything, but listen, trying my hardest not to cry. It was all my fault. If I'd just left him there, on the sidewalk, he wouldn't be in the progress of dying, even if he didn't want to admit it. He'd be drunk, but at least he'd be alive!

"Don't black out again" he coughed, making himself heave as pain shot through his body, "You've done it enough times". He started to heave more, as if the words were too much to him. It took him a while before he spoke again. "Thank you" he breathed, a small smile on his lips, "You got me here".

I didn't want him to be humble; I wanted him to hate me! I didn't want him to thank me for bringing him to this damn forsaken island, I wanted him to be angry, absolutely furious, but he wasn't. Even in the face of death, he wasn't scared; it was as if he knew his time was up.

"It's not your fault" he tried to reassure me, shaking his head slightly, "I didn't need to take you, and I knew why others didn't go" he started coughing, his body shaking as he tried to speak. After a few seconds, he continued, his voice small and raspy "The reason I took you is because I needed it as much as you did".

He'd never told me. The thrill of the ride, that's the only reason I thought he'd came.

"These pirates" the captain told me, "These men, you have to remember, their that, just men"

I really wanted to believe him, but I couldn't, not after what I'd seen, these pirates didn't have any humanity in them,

"Never give up..." the captain trailed off and fell in to a deep sleep, leaving me to sit there and think about what I'd done. What I'd done to him. It was my fault…

Every noise, it made him twitch, but it never woke him up, as if he was in so much pain that he couldn't even bare to hear it anymore. It felt like he was already dead to the world.

The pain in my arms, my legs, my whole body, it just got worse. Somewhere between then and the next morning, I fell asleep. The song _welcome to the jungle_, by _guns n roses_ was playing when I woke up.

There were six people, all in a line, being marched in to camp. They had bags over their head and their hands were tied together. There were four boys and two girls, and they were all wearing bathing suits, as if they'd been plucked off the beach. The two girls were led away and put in to one of the empty cages, having their arms tied above their heads and the sacks pulled off. They couldn't have been any older than eighteen.

The four boys, obviously less important, were given to the men. They were thrown around like rag dolls and the men acted like animals, kicking and hitting them as they lied on the ground, completely helpless.

One of the boys was knocked out, having been punched about three times in the head. One of the pirates threw water over him, making him jerk awake, spluttering, only to be pulled up and ordered to stand. Every time he fell over or moved, they stabbed one of the other boys, the smallest one. He couldn't have even been eighteen. He looked more like a child the more I looked at his terrified little face.

One managed to get up, head but one of the pirates and start to run, but suddenly one of the pit bull type dogs were let loose, chasing after him and biting at his feet before he fell, face first, on to the ground.

The girls screamed at them to stop, but it just made them do it more. It was as if they used the cries to cheer them on. This went on for a few hours, each one of the boys having a good beating before being dragged to some cages, all of them unconscious and completely broken.

Throughout the whole scene, the same song kept playing, and eventually, I didn't know if they were actually playing it on repeat or if it had just got stuck in my head.

Another song came on, a beat that I didn't recognise and it just played in the background as everything started to settle down. It wasn't long before I noticed two men, dressed in black tank tops instead of red, standing next to a door that led in to one of the huts behind the stage, positioned in the middle of two tree's. They stood, straight and still, and were covered in heavy artillery. I was sure that one of them had an RPG strapped to his back.

They were both holding SMG's and one of them had a strap, full of different sorts of knives, that hung from his shoulder.

_There's something worse than pirates on this island..._

After a couple more minutes, someone exited the hut. A man in a white shirt and black trousers waltzed out, as if he owned the place, which he probably did. He looked in my direction, but he wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Murphy, holding something white in his hand.

When he started walking towards him, I realised that it was the Captains hat. He only wore it when he docked at the ports and it'd been kept in the cabin.

I closed my eyes, begging that he'd just walk past and leave him alone.

He didn't…

I opened my eyes when I heard him talk, he had some sort of Southern accent and he was talking to Murphy,

"Ronald Murphy, captain of the now deceased F.1.5.H fishing vessel, correct". Murphy didn't reply, still deep in sleep. The kick in his back from one the guy's henchmen, made him jerk awake and me shout, only for it to come out in a mumble. "Don't worry your next" he told me, as if we were all involved in some sort of game. I should have been scared, but all my pain had turned in to anger.

"Great, you're awake" the man said as he opened the cage. He nodded his head at Murphy and one of the henchman came in to the cage and dragged him out. The henchman laid him on the floor, cutting the binds off his hands and feet before he was forced to stand up, making him lurch over as he held on to his stomach. Where he'd sat was a puddle of his own blood, I couldn't believe that he hadn't already died yet.

I wish he had..

"It's a shame they had to shoot you, I had a guy in Brazil wanting some cheap, old fun from the sea", he winked at me before they pushed him towards the jungle and out of sight.

Suddenly, I heard the man shout,

"Run you old fool!" It was like he was giving him some sort of head start...

_Run Murphy, just fucking run!_

I'm not sure if he ran, or if he stayed, but all of a sudden, he screamed... I hoped that as he got quieter, he'd run farer way, but then I heard a shot gun and a roar from deep in the jungle.

Only one thing could be that loud.

_A tiger. A fucking tiger..._

After five minutes the man in the white shirt came back, laughing hysterically and holding the captains blood soaked hat. He came right up to my cage and shoved it in between the bars. It was only then I got a good look at him. He looked like he could have been in his late thirties, but his skin was wrinkled and creased, as if the years of cigarettes and drugs that he reeked off had took it's toll. He had dark brown hair and piercing brown eyes. My body started to shake and I screamed at him.

_You fucking bastard fucker!_

I pulled at the binds and almost felt my hand come loose, but then I felt someone grab them and pull the rope tighter, making it dig in to my skin,

"The only thing left" he threw it at me, "Of the friend you let die". The man left, laughing hysterically.

My body shook as I sobbed. He was gone. There was no bringing him back from this.

_It's all my fault..._

I should have been earning for revenge, but I couldn't. It hurt too much…

_Why didn't I leave him on that fucking sidewalk? Why the fuck did I bring him to this fucking island!_

Later in to the day, the pain got worse. I tried to distract myself by the clouds, but then the sky cleared and the heat bared down on me. I knew I shouldn't have brought him here, I knew it should have took that other captain up on his deal. Another seaman, Jonny Reynolds, had said that he would take me in sight of the island, wait for calmer waters and then shove me in a life boat and make me paddle my way there, but I didn't want to take the chance, I was being selfish.

_You didn't know…_

The voice in my head, it was trying to free me from the pain, but it wasn't working. I'd heard the rumours, I'd heard the tales, I hadn't listened and now Murphy was dead.

In the middle of my self-pity, I felt the clothe being yanked from my mouth and taking a deep breath, only for it to taste like tobacco. The man in the white shirt was kneeling next to me, his breath heavy with smoke.

"Murphy-"

"Don't you even say his name" I suddenly spat, I was so angry at him, but I could feel myself slipping,

_You can't give up_

"That's what I like to here", he punched me on the arm playfully, but his demeanor was changing slowly, as if he was about to snap

"Fuck off",

"Wait, now, now you're hurting my feelings",

"What the fuck do I care",

"You will" he told me, picking Murphy's hat up and putting near my face so I could clearly see the embroidered shark fin. I could have fucking punched him! "So, what do you like, old men, young men, women? Gotta keep the products happy as well as the customers" he grinned,

"Go fuck yourself" I wasn't even sure I'd said it out load it was that weak and quiet, but then something changed. This calm, collected, but demented stance he had turned blood thirsty in a second,

"I will fucking kill you " he shouted at me, grabbing the bars and shaking the cage, "You little piece of shit!"

"Do it". I'd never want to die more. I didn't want to wake up to more torture, to more prisoners. I just wanted peace, and the sharp pain to my leg gave me that for a brief second.

* * *

I have so much to do lately, it's unbelievable...

I hope your enjoying :)


	4. Chapter 4

_I opened my eyes and found myself on the beach we'd docked at, but now the boat was heading back out to sea, leaving me. _

_I started running, begging Murphy to turn round, but then I caught a glimpse of the captain in the jungle. He stood in the shrubbery, his body frozen. I heard the boats horn go off and turned to watch it sink, suddenly and quickly in to the depths._

_I turned back to Murphy, but this time he was holding his stomach and coughing up blood. I tried to move towards him, but I couldn't, stuck in the sand as I started to sink. I heard a terrible roar from behind me before the tiger jumped over and landed on the captain, tackling him to the floor. There was no way I was every getting off this island._

Somehow, something felt different. I opened my eyes and found that I'd moved. The cage had been cleaned, the hat was gone and I was now under some sort of shelter, sheltered partially from the raging rook island storm that was currently battering the island. As well as being moved, I was lying on the ground and my feet and hands were free.

My shoulder was still aching, but apart from that, everything felt that extra bit better. The stiffness was gone and even though there was still some pain, you could call it bearable. I rolled myself on to my back and the shot of pain running through my leg made me cry out. My thigh felt as if it'd been broken. I scrambled up in to a sitting position and found that a part of my jeans had been torn off and a bandage had been wrapped round my thigh. It was soaked in blood. I placed my hands on the point where it hurt most and pressed down, hoping that it'd stop the pain, but then I noticed how bloody my hands were.

They looked as if they'd been rubbed raw and there were soars around my wrists from where the binds had been. I looked at them for a second before touching the bruises on my right knuckle. It didn't hurt when I poked it, but the blackness proved to me that it was broken.

I looked back at my leg and started to unwrap the bandage. The fucker had stabbed me. I looked at the pitiful excuse at stitching for a second before I re-wrapped the bandage, tighter than it had been. The pain got more bearable and I tucked the bandage in to itself before lying down on the ground, looking up at the sky.

I expected to feel worse, but my limbs had stopped aching and apart from my shoulder and leg being fucked up, and my hand probably broken, I felt relatively okay.

I watched quietly as one of the girls from the day before was dragged out of her cage and to a truck. I probably could of said something, could have shouted and ranted about how sick they were, but I was exhausted. I looked back up at the sky, if I didn't die from blood lost, I'd die from an infection, and if I didn't die from that, fuck, I'd be sold in to slavery, or worse...

The hours got longer and the screams got louder. The night was long and I couldn't get to sleep.

The man in the white shirt had been passing by my cage all day, but not once had he looked at me. It helped, not to be gagged, or tied, but I felt like it wasn't going to last. Like they were just letting me build some energy up before they handed me over to some rich, disgusting man in the congo...

_You should be thinking up an escape plan..._

I could seduce one of the guards, or even hit one over the head with the non-existent stick that I had, hope to god he had the key, steal them, open the cage and run...

_Oh yeah, because you'd outrun the guns..._

It was useless; unless they unlocked the cage and just let me run, no guns, or dogs, or tigers, I was fucked. It's not like I'd even be able to run at this rate anyway.

Today, the stage was full of native people, all lined up like the Rakyat warriors had been. My father had been a rakyat warrior, and because of that, I should of felt a bit more remorse for what had happened to them, but I was sure they were one of the reasons I left. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the day my mum had took me away, my father hadn't returned home.

The man in the white shirt was now coming towards me, a big smile on his face. He knelt down next to the cage and held out his hand,

"My names Frederick Volker",

Suffice to say, I didn't shake it,

"Fine" he shrugged before lighting up a cigarette, he took a puff before speaking again, "So, are you going to tell me your name?" he asked, blowing the smoke in my face,

"No." He took out a gun, my gun, the captains gun and started turning it round in his hands, admiring it, a smirk on his face,

"This is a nice gun, a very nice gun" he placed it in to his holster, "You don't have a passport? or any ID? care to explain"

I didn't.

"Fine, well at least you know who I am" he shrugged before standing out and flicking his fag to the ground,

"And I'm not scared of you",I hated him more than anything, but I wasn't scared of him, I was too angry to be scared of him.

"You don't have to be", a grin fell upon his lips and he nodded at someone behind me.

Suddenly, I felt a cold breath make the hairs on the back of my neck stick up,

"It's such a shame having to hurt such a pretty thing like you" a man whispered in to my ear, making my whole body go rigid. It was the same man from the stage. I froze.

"She's not worth anything, do what you like" Frederick shrugged, laughing.

"Everyone has their price" I heard him say before I felt the sting of cold metal slide across the back of my neck, 'Let's take a look at her". I was suddenly pushed forward as the cage door opened and I was grabbed by one of the pirates that was standing next to Volker.

At first, I tried to struggle, to get away, even this guys voice frightened me, but the pirate didn't let go.

I kept looking at the floor, I'd be damned if I ever looked him in the eye. If the warriors had been scared of him, well, yeah. I heard the gun shot and I froze. At first, I thought I'd been shot, but then I heard something fall and hit the ground.

One of the natives on the stage had been shot, right in between the eyes. This guy was a good shot,

"The more you struggle, the more people die" he said, making my whole body tremble as I saw him get closer.

"Let's play a game",

Something inside me clicked, the accent, the voice, but I pushed it away.

_No!_

I could only see his feet, but then he grabbed my chin and pulled my face up so our eyes met,

"It starts".

My body froze and I felt the blood drain from my face. Insanity looked me deep in the eye, but then something about the insanity changed, and the man looked at me as if he'd seen a ghost. He went pale white and stopped, silence beckoning across the whole of the men who had gathered around us.

_Vaas!_

For maybe a quarter of a second, I saw something that was worth clinging on to, but I wasn't willing to do it. I pushed away from his grasp and he let me.

The second gun shot made the pirate who had been holding me drop me to the floor as he keeled over. Vaas had pulled the trigger on his gun and shot him in the leg. I started scrambling away as he just stood there, absolutely stunted and when someone grabbed on to my shoulder, I panicked and swung out.

I think I punched that Volker bloke right in the face, because all of a sudden, all hell broke loose and I got battered the crap in to.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

_I was sat outside the kitchen, listening as my mother cried and my father comforted her. I knew that something big was happening, that something disastrous was coming our way, but they never told me what, and when it happened, they never told me why. All she'd done the last couple of weeks break down._

_There was a knock on the front door and I stood up. The crying stopped when I got to the door and reached for the handle. I could hear my mum screaming at me to run, but it was too late. I opened the door to Vaas._

I jerked awake, my heart racing and my hold body going in to a sweat, I looked around the room I was in and found it empty. It was just a dream. Instead of my old house, I was lying on a mattress in a middle of a room. I didn't have any idea where I was, but then I heard the screaming, the shouting of pirates and I knew where I was. I pushed myself up in to a sitting position.

I looked down at my leg and found that I was wearing different trousers. They were green kaki pants. The pain in my leg was almost non-exisistent. I pulled the trousers down slightly and found a clean bandage wrapped around my thigh and instead of blood everywhere, there was just a trickle of blood where the wound was. I pulled them up and then looked around the room.

The walls were made of a dark wood, and the roof was made of some sort of tin. There was a bed in the corner, a cupboard, a big map which hung on the wall, a desk, that had my steel container on it, a chair and a window that looked off in to the jungle. It also had two doors. One that went off to the side and another that must of went outside, with a small window on it that I could see the sky through.

I could hardly even feel the pain in my leg, but I wasn't looking forward to standing up. My shoulder felt as if it had been put back in to place, but my head hurt like a bitch, and as I went to stand up, I felt a bout of dizziness over come me.

I pushed myself to my feet, feeling a searing pain go through my leg as I finally put weight on to it. I stood there for a second, trying to adjust to the pain and when I thought I could take it, I stepped forward. It hurt like hell, but the stitches felt like they were holding up so I carried on.

I sat on the chair and I froze. It suddenly hit me that the screaming had stopped. That meant that anyone could walk right through that door and just devour me, and by anyone, I mean Vaas. The whole thought of him terrified me, but then I heard his voice,

"Maybe we should play a little game",

_Fuck, he's right outside!_

All sorts of things ran through my mind. Would he make me run, like they had Murphy? Would they throw me in a cage with a bear? Would they pass me round like a piece of meat? Every thought terrified me, and then I heard the lock in the door click and silence. He'd locked it. I took a deep breath and sat back in the chair, my heart stopped racing and I looked at the container.

Whilst the door was locked, that meant I was safe. Away from the pirates, the death, the torture, away from him. Now I just had to think about anything, but him.

Whoever had opened the container had tried to burn the lock off, and had eventually just undone the hinges, so I pushed the top and it fell straight to the floor. I tried to catch it, to deafen the blow, but it slipped past my fingers and I shut my eyes, awaiting for the door to unlock itself and bracing myself for thw tower of shit to rain down on me, but nothing came. The silence slowly turned back in to the laughing and the shouting I'd heard before and I looked back at the container. I was still safe.

The container had two rounds of ammo, without a gun, a map and a photo of my mum. It was a younger version, but it was the only one I had where she was properly happy. I tucked it in to my top. My mother had beautiful blue eyes and dark red hair. Her and my father had fallen in love whilst she'd been on an a cruise, and they'd docked at the island for a couple of days.

Her parents weren't happy that their young, full-of-life, straight A's daughter had fallen in love with one of the natives, and from that day on the beach, when they'd left, she'd never seen them again. Three years after I was born.

There was also one other thing I'd brought with me, a green gem stone necklace that I'd put in there for safe keeping, years before I'd even considered coming back, but it was gone. I told myself that I must of left it, that it wasn't important and I turned my head towards the map that hung on the wall.

It was a map of the rook islands, similar to the one I had, but much bigger. I limped over to it and noticed that it was hand drawn, and beneath the black marker pen that now named the outposts, were the names of the villages the island once had. There were still some, unscathed by the marker, and I felt some sort of hope, but I didn't count on them having a better chance than anyone else. I mentally noted the closest village 'Badtown'.

It also had names of the smaller places on Rook Island. The places I'd explored as a child. My favorite was Herons Perch, and I have no idea why. Some of the rakyat ruins also had little stars next to them, indicating places that we could go to and not be found...

Only one other person would have a map like this other than me. Vaas...

We'd grown up together, we'd dealt with life together, but then I'd left, and then, whilst I was gone, it all seemed to fall apart. I couldn't blame myself, it wasn't my fault I'd had to leave. My mother still never told me why. After nine years! I'd even asked her on her death bed, _"Why did we have to leave?"_ and as usual, she never gave me an answer and told me never to go back. She wanted me to live without a reason, but despite the fact that I had everything I should ever want, I couldn't live with the question rotting away in my mind. I loved her, but it wasn't fair.

I regretted it now. I really didn't want to die at the hands of pirates, at the hands of Vaas, but even though my heart kept on telling me things were looking up, I had a niggling feeling that they weren't going to stay that way. My life was literally falling apart in front of me. Everything I believed in was slowly crumbling away, but if I wanted to survive, I had to just get on with it. I didn't have any other choice.

I tried to stop thinking about him. I didn't want to remember him as he was now, I wanted to remember him as he was before. He wasn't Vaas anymore, he was a monster, a torturous monster that had the hand of god on this island. Volker, you could call him scary, and deluded, and he'd thrown Murphy to a tiger, but atleast with him, there was this twisted sort of humanity left. He was cocky and ignorant, and some would have been afraid, but everything about Vaas screamed 'Run' to me, as if he didn't even know what he was capable of.

Murphy had always said to me, people aren't born evil, and everyone can be pulled back from the devils grasp, but when your so far gone, when your pushed to your absolute limit, can you ever be brought back, not completely, but even just a little bit? Can you want to change? Can you ever hold on to a little piece of humanity that makes you human?

I decided no. Not Vaas. It was like every bit of it was gone and this fake humanity had took it's place.

My heart stopped when I realised that again, everything had gone quiet. No one was screaming, no one was shouting and I couldn't hear the pirates laugh anymore. The door unlocked and I braced myself. The last thing I want to do is turn round and see him there.

He wasn't, but Volker was determined to make me fear him.

He grabbed on to me and put me in to some sort of headlock,

"I'd love to finish you off" he whispered in to my ear, "But the pirates quite like you as a camp pet"

My brain decided that there and then, the open door was my only way of escape. If I didn't leave now, they'd break me and I'd never get out of here. I even contemplated staying, but everything I remembered about this island, everything good, it would just all go away. It's be replaced with death, torture and rape, and I wasn't about to let that happen. I'd never be able to fix it, but I wasn't going to let it go.

I somehow managed to kick backwards and get him right in the balls. He screamed as he let go off me and fell to the floor, holding his groin and groining. I ran out. The jungle was right in front of me. Right there and I jumped. I went over the balcony and in to the shrubbery, hitting the floor with an almighty thud before I pulled myself up and scrambled forward, trying not to crumble to the floor as the pain in my leg got almost unbearable.

I heard the alarm go off and someone shout, but I had no idea what they were saying, and they were deluded if they think I would stop to listen.

I wasn't even running, I was just sort of fast walking, trying to deal with the horrible pain in my leg and the uneven jungle floor. I fell and hit the ground about three times before I came to a clearing. A dirt road.

The night was coming and I could see a bridge in the distance. A bridge meant water, and from the sound of those dogs, if I could get them off the scent, I might actually have a chance.

I kept to the shrubbery, ducking down as a convoy full of pirates went passed, searching for me. I ended up on my hands and knee's when the convoy stopped and the pirates got out. There were no dogs, thank god, but I could hear them in the distance.

A pirate walked inches away from me and he looked straight down. I have no idea how he didn't see me. I crawled towards the bridge, the pirates from the convoy walking the other way, giving me the chance to reach the bridge completely unseen.

I decided to follow the river and as night descended, there was no way the pirates would see me. Instead of crouching, I stood up. I could feel a warm liquid running down my leg and I knew I'd popped the stitches, but I kept going. I had to get somewhere safe, somewhere that had shelter.

The cold rook air breezed past and I could hear the thunder in the distance. The storm would drive the pirates home and it'd give me some time to find something, or someone that would help me.

_It could also give you pneumonia..._

I saw a light flashing in the distance and after a burst of lightning tore through the sky, I saw that it was a radio tower. I decided to start going towards it. If anything, it'd give me some sort of shelter from the rain I knew was on it's way.

The night went quiet as I got farer away from the slave camp, the pirates leaving the elements to kill me off.

The dogs barking disappeared in to the distance and the roads got quiet. The pirates seemed to have all gone home, and I didn't blame them. No one wanted to be caught out in a rook island storm. Especially one like this.

The rain got heavier as I started to trek my way up the small hill to the radio tower. I was soaked to the bone, but fortunately, there was a little iron shelter sitting idly next to the tower, probably once a maintenance hut, but it'd been long abandoned. I went in and sat down. The door was no where to be seen and I cutched myself in to the corner, away from the brutality of the weather.

My teeth started to chatter and my leg ached, but I couldn't do anything, especially when it was like this. I closed my eyes and was actually able to fall asleep after listening to the rain hit the roof. It sounded like some sort of melody I'd heard before.

I woke up the next morning and the rain was still there, but the air was humid and the sun was out. I stretched out my injured leg and inspected the damage I'd put upon it the day before. I pulled down my trousers slightly, finding dried and gooey blood running down my leg. I undone the bandage. The edges of my skin was still being held together by pieces of thread, but some of the stitches had popped out, and the blood had seeped through, coating my leg in blood. Even the sight of it made me feel sick, and the wave of dizziness that came with it almost made me spew. I knew the loss of blood was going against me, but I had to keep going.

I could feel the stitches pulling again, but I had to move. The longer I stayed, the more chance the pirates would find me. The more chance he would find me. I have no idea what kept me going. Maybe Murphy was sitting in the back of my mind, urging me on, or maybe, I didn't want my memories to be completely wiped out and replaced with violence, manipulation, drugs and him.

I stuck to the road, making sure to duck whenever a convoy went passed. Eventually, I started seeing cars filled with natives and even two or three convoys with Rakyat warriors. I knew I could of flagged them down, but I kept to the jungle. The less people who knew I was here, the better, but I had to find someone I knew. They couldn't all be gone.

I followed the Rakyat warriors trucks and by mid-day, the rain had gone and I could hear people laughing and joking, but it was more hearty, and no one was screaming. I'd actually found a village. Bad town.

I sat on the bank that looked over it. I watched as villagers went about their business. They laughed and joked with each other, and I even saw children run around playing and a man standing next to his dart board, enticing people to play his game. It was sort of how I remembered it, people, happiness, but there was a certain dullness to it all, as if everyone was putting on a face, even the children.

I was a bit wary when I walked past the front gate, but people took no notice of me as they got ready to do what they did everyday.

The houses were made of jungle wood and the roofs were made of iron. Only when I walked through did I notice the wild flowers that blossomed all over the place, trying to bring some life back in to a town plagued by life itself.

I fainted..


	6. Chapter 6

When I finally woke up, I could feel the softness of sheets under me and instantly, my whole body felt relieved. Where ever I had ended up, there was no screaming, no gun shots, just a peaceful hum. My nose felt stuffy and my head hurt, but other than that, I could feel my strength coming back.

I opened my eyes and looked up at the tin roof ceiling. I pushed myself up with my arms and looked over to see my old aunt Mag.

"I've got some water and sponge here for you" she had put a wash basin right next to my bed, "When your ready, get yourself washed up and I'll get the doctor to sew that leg for you".

I was sort of speechless. She was exactly the same as she had been the day I left. I hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye. Aunt Mag was around forty now, and had tints of grey in her dark hair and worry lines etched in to her tanned forehead. Her eyes were brown and welcoming, a smile stretched across her face, as if to assure me that I was safe...

"You've got nothing to worry about, they can't get you" she promised me, kneeling down and kissing my forehead before leaving the room. She was like my dad, she never liked to linger, but this time, I needed her too.

I needed her to tell me that I wasn't going to have to see him again. I didn't want to look at the man he'd become. I tried to make myself think I was going crazy, for all I know, it might not have been him.

_I hope you are..._

I got out of the bed and pushed myself to go look in the mirror. I hadn't looked in one properly for weeks and I dreaded what I was going to see.

The mirror was mounted on one of those old dressing tables, like the ones you'd see in a movie.

I looked in to the mirror and found that I had bruises all along my jaw line that trailed down to my collar bone and to my right shoulder. I also had cuts all over my arms and a dark bruise on the top of my head.

My wrists still had the outlines of the binds in them and my right hand was still black.

My light brown hair was slick with blood, rain and dirt and I'd almost be able to pass for a native considering how dirty my face was. I could just see the outlines of my white skin through the dirt, the only thing I'd actually got from my red-headed mother.

I had black circles around my eyes and I wasn't sure if they were bruises or if I was just exhausted. I looked away from the mirror and to the bowl full of water Mag had left me. I'd be able to wash the dirt away. If only I could wash the past five days away so easily.

* * *

I was at the table, eating some food when I finally asked Mag the question that was lingering in my head,

"What happened?",

"They lost their god damn minds" Anna, my fourteen year old cousin muttered, which made my aunt tell her not to say such things and send her to the room.

"This guy, Volker, he came to the island" my aunt took away my half eaten food and shoved it in to the sink, "He brought drugs, and a business", she started washing the plate, "Slave-trading",

"The pirates" I said out loud,

"The whole island, all of us, we couldn't hold on to it any longer, even the Rakyat couldn't fight him", I remember how terrified the five Rakyat had been of the man on stage, the man I think could only have been Vaas. She took the cleaned plates out of the sink and started to dry them.

"Then salvation..." she put it down and turned round to me, a hope etched across her face as she remembered, "A man, a couple years younger than you, he came to the island and saved us all"

"Then what happened?" nothing seemed to have changed,

"He became a Rakyat warrior, he became one of the best, but the Rakyat made him choose" she took a deep breath before she continued, "They made him choose, them or his friends, the people he'd saved to become a warrior" she shook her head, "They wanted his ties to be broken",

"Mag, it's okay, stop" she looked as if she was about to cry, her face was full of guilt, as if she felt ashamed for being part of something so brutal,

"No, he choose them, he left, but everything he did, it was like it reversed itself, it was as if he never existed"

"What happened to Vaas", just the name hit the core of her pain and I wish I'd never asked,

"He became involved with Hoyt, he got addicted to drugs, money, and then Jason killed him" she was blunt, and I think thats all she could manage. It made me think that he hadn't really been there, but then I remembered something else.

Sofia...

"What happened to Sofia?",

"She-"

"Vaas killed her!" The interruption came from Merrick, and I knew the conversation was over. He came in and sat down opposite me. Mag put a plate of food down in front of him. She quickly composed herself, trying not to burst in to tears and put on her best smile,

"Could you and Anna feed Issie please"

I complied and went to see Anna who was sitting on her bed, reading a letter.

She had gorgeous hazel nut hair that hung in curls down her back, and beautiful tanned skin. She was so young, so full of life, I wish I could see the world through her eyes, to find the good that every child can in times of danger,

"Is that off your boyfriend?" I enquired as I walked over to her,

"No, it's from my friend in Amanaki" she explained, "My dad sees her dad a lot so they exchange letters for us"

"Why can't you see her?",

"It's too dangerous to go out in to the jungle, the pirates might find us" she shrugged,

"Let's go out to Issie".

Issie was a docile creature and my aunt Mags pride and joy. A buffalo. As Anna got to work getting some milk, I noticed the locals glances getting a bit longer. Every time I looked in their direction, they'd look away. Most of them stared at me with pity in their eyes, but there were a few that looked at me suspiciously, as if they knew something I didn't.

As we were about to go back in to the house, the resident doctor stopped me, enquiring about my hand,

"How's your hand feeling today?" the doctor asked, his american accent out of place with everything else. He was the only person in the village, other than Mag, Anna and occasionally Merrick, who made an effort to talk to me. He wasn't native to the island, and Anna had told me that he'd just appeared one day and started healing people.

His name was Dr. Richardson.

"The support seems to be doing it some good, but it''s still painful",

"It'll get better, but if you can get a hold of some arrowroot or screwpine, it'll help quicken the healing time",

"Yeah, I've been on the look out" I assured him, remembering the drawings of the plants he'd shown me,

"What about the leg?" he asked,

"The stitches are holding up" I smiled and he smiled back before turning round and walking away, back to his little shack.

I was sat outside the house when I told them my decision.

I wanted to go home, back to Britain.

My uncle Merrick agreed almost instantly, but my aunt Mag and Anna weren't too keen on the idea. I'd contemplated taking revenge on Volker, but I'd never be able to get to him, and I knew Murphy would rather me live.

_You hope so anyway..._

And then this voice, in my head, this stupid little voice that patronised me constantly, maybe it would just leave me alone.

_You stuck with me until yuh die!_

My uncle said that he'd arrange a boat. A whole week passed after that, and the tension between the two of us grew, and I have no idea why.

A few days passed and Anna and me were sitting on the bridge. She was telling me about the place, and how it used to be full of pirates and mercenaries, but when Jason had killed Vaas and the pirates had abandoned it, they'd taken it back. It was easily done, but she knew that the Rakyat were having a hard time keeping a hold of it. More so, since the new Volker had came in.

He'd been there for about six months, and he was a lot more involved than Hoyt had been.

"I sometimes wonder what really happened with Vaas and Sofia" she suddenly said, taking the conversation in to the depths I wasn't sure any of us wanted to deal with, "They were engaged? Why would he kill her?"

"Power can make you do horrible things" I told her, "It changes people",

"It didn't change Jason, I think he picked the right choice",

"Even if it meant the pirates came back in force?",

"Its our problem, it was never his, why drop it on someone and make their life hell?" Anna shrugged. Whether or not people thought it, she was right.

"What happened to Citra?" I suddenly asked, remembering the the little shit of a sister Vaas had been completely under the thumb with,

"This guy called Dennis killed her" Anna shrugged, "He didn't mean to"

"What happened to him?" I asked,

"He found another game"

All of a sudden, I was in the water.

I hit my mouth on one of the rocks and felt blood fill my mouth as I turned over and saw Merrick, he looked absolutely furious,

"I knew you would betray us" he shouted at me,

"Merrick" Mag appeared, her face filled with dread,

"What" I asked, spitting out the blood,,

"Vaas, he's still alive and you" he pointed his finger at me, a familiar madness in his eyes, "You knew",

"I thought he was dead" I shouted back at him. I'd already convinced my self that I'd been hallucinating. It was the only way I was getting myself through it. It was the only reason I hadn't told them. I didn't want them to think I was mad.

"No" Merrick screamed as he jumped down, and before I knew it, he had his hands around my throat and was dunking me under the water.

_You're going to die. Not by pirates, not by Volker, by your god damn uncle. What the actual fuck?_

I could hear people shouting from under the water, but I had no idea what they were saying. My head started to feel hot, as if the oxygen couldn't get to my brain anymore and I reflexively took a breath in and I passed out.

I woke up, I was still alive.

_You keep doing that..._

Vaas was alive, Merrick didn't like me and the pirates were heading for the village.

Something had changed, the people were planning something.

That night my aunt woke me from a restless sleep, hastily packing my things,

"You have to leave" she told me, handing me my old, but cleaned tank top and kaki pants I'd came in, "Put them on quick". I did as she said, sensing the urgency in her voice,

"Why?" I asked as I pulled the pants on,

"Renae.. They.. You just have too" she passed me the backpack she'd been packing,

"What's happening?"

"The jungle or pirates, I don't care where you go, but you have to get out of here" she had her hands on my shoulders, her eyes begging me to leave without question, but I couldn't,

"What, pirates? Are you mad?",

"Maybe you are, but you're safer with them than you are here. Renae, you're safer with them than you are in the jungle",

"They'll kill me!" I could feel the sobs building in my throat,

"Renae, don't" tears started filling her eyes, "You won't die",

"I will, I can't do this. I'm not cut out for this sort of shit anymore"

"Renae, take the strength from the jungle. Your not fully Rakyat, but your dad was. He was a great warrior and you have that strength in you, you just have to find it",

"What am I supposed to do?" I shrugged, walking back from her, "Am I gonna start killing people? Am I supposed to make the Rakyat like me? What happened the day I left Mag?"

I had a feeling that it all came back to that...

"You were supposed to die!" Mag told me, "The Rakyat thought you were dead!"

"What?"

_You weren't expecting that were you?_

"Renae, just go, please" the alarm went off and she pushed me out the back door.

* * *

**A/N A long chapter, which a lot happens in. I haven't really decided whether this is good or bad yet, but I'm really eager to start getting more in to the action, and the whole history to the story and most importantly, Vaas!**


	7. Chapter 7

I stood outside the door and it slammed shut behind me. I shouldn't have been wasting anymore time, but I couldn't pull myself to move. I could see the jungle from where I was standing, the tree's towering over the tin wall the Rakyat had built to protect the village.

The alarm was going off and I could hear people shouting in the background, awaiting the attack. Suddenly, a gun shot fired and it brought me back to my senses.

I had to go. Now! I pulled myself through the small ditch that Anna would use to escape the town and was suddenly out in the jungle.

_It's all you from here on out..._

I heard a scream and instantly started running. That could only mean one thing.

Pirates!

I had no idea where I was going, but I kept telling myself I couldn't stop running. The screaming got louder, filling the jungle with cries of mercy. It hurt like hell to have to run away from my family, but at this moment in time, I didn't know what to think, and the only thought that was running through my head was wanting to be away from the pirates, from him.

I heard an explosion and stopped. I felt my chest go tight and told myself not to look back, but I did. The jungle lit up in the distance. The village was on fire.

_Keep running... You can't fight fire or pirates..._

I listened and kept running. It was right. There was nothing I could do.

I kept going until I tripped over some exposed tree roots, rolled down a steep hill and over some rocks before hitting the ground with a thud. I didn't even bother to get up. I just lied there.

The screams had turned in to howls of pain, but it was slowly getting quieter as the time wore on. I don't know how long I lied there before I fell asleep, but all my restless dreams persisted off was a burning village and people on fire running out of it. Their pain didn't last long though, as they were gunned down by the pirates who were sitting on the trucks outside, lavishing the entertainment.

_You could end your life in a second... One slice and you'd be dead to the world. Your body, it'd be picked clean and it'd be like you never even existed._

Suicide. It' the first thing that popped in to my mind the moment I woke up. I could end my life and finally be done with it. It wasn't my fault I wasn't already dead.

_Yeah..._

Or that Vaas was a monster, or that Sofia was dead or that the island had gone to shit. I wasn't to blame for any of it. I should have listened to my mum.

But, I didn't have anything in Britain. For the last three years, I'd went from town to town, gaining friends, losing friends. When I'd left, I'd been glad to be rid of it all. All the hustle and bustle of the city, all the memories. I'd left because I couldn't make myself fit in, because my needs for answers got the better of me.

I wished I could go back. I really did, but after this, I don't think I'd ever be able to forget the carnage, or the death...

So why didn't I just do it?

_Murphy..._

If anything was my fault, it was Murphy's death, and because of that, I couldn't just cheat my way out of the life he'd lost. I couldn't give up.

I sat up and leaned on the closest tree and looked in to the bag Mag had given me. It had a knife, a bandage, a map, matches, a water bottle and a folded piece of paper with my name on it.

It was a letter from Anna.

_To Renae,_

_It's gonna be hell to get this letter to you, but if your reading this, I guess I managed to do it. Make sure you give the second letter to Sam in Amanaki, she should be able to help you. I hope I see you soon. I will try and talk my papa round, it's not your fault the pirates came after you. They always come after the escaped prisoners, I don't know why he thought they wouldn't._

_Love Anna_

There was a second letter folded up, the name Sam on the outside. I refrained from reading it and tucked it back in to the front pocket of my bag.

I spread the map out on the ground. I was near 'Badtown', which I spotted quickly. If I went west, I'd get to Amanaki village.

It was the only place I could go. It had once been one of the strongest strongholds for the Rakyat warriors, and I imagined it was one of the safest places to be.

_If they don't want you dead..._

I pushed myself up and made my way to the road.

As far as I could see, the road was clear, so I started walking, making sure that I kept close to the shrubbery just in case a vehicle did drive past. I still had a little bit of a limp, but the doctor had sewn my leg up with some re-inforced stitches he'd made from one of these plants he'd found.

I was taking a swig of water when I noticed the leopard. It was just sitting there, relaxed in the long grass and watching some deer on the other side of the road. I stopped, trying to figure out a way to get around it. If I didn't pose a threat and stayed far enough away, it'd happily let me go past, but then I heard something.

A car!

I crouched behind a group of tree trunks, the leopard still hadn't noticed my presence, but it was watching the oncoming vehicle quietly

The car that drove past had two pirates in it,

"Hey, there's someone there" I heard one of the pirates shout, and all of a sudden, they stopped and drove backwards toward us. I tried to find some thick bush I could run in to, but then the leopard turned to me.

I looked it in the eye and expected it to just pounce and tear me to shreds, but then the car stopped. The leopard took another look at the pirates and jumped out of them, taking them both by surprise. It took one down as the other shot at it frantically, screaming at it.

It took the leopards seconds to kill the first pirate before jumping on to the second. As the pirate fell to the ground, the leopard biting his neck, the gun shot and the leopard collapsed.

They were all dead. I kneeled down and took a deep breath. After a few minutes, making sure that the pirates and the leopard were definitely dead, or at least unconscious, and no one was following the sound of gun shots, I pulled myself up.

I walked across the road and on to the grass field that the deer were still grazing on, weirdly unfazed by the scene that had just gone on, although, as soon as they spotted me, they ran.

I kept on walking, making sure I kept to the map. The last thing I wanted was to get lost. If I was heading in the right direction, I'd come to another road which would lead me to a better route to Amanaki, one which didn't have any red blots near it.

I spotted a group of pigs near some old tree stumps. I'd never been able to throw with my left hand, but still, I raised the knife and threw it. It brought with it, this exhilarating feeling that I hadn't felt in a long time, even when it hit the first stump, bouncing off and making the pigs scatter, I still admired the distance I was able to still throw the knife.

I'd done it before. I'd survived off the land, off the animals. I knew how to hunt, but this whole survival thing. It seemed that years of almost luxury in a city had sort of rubbed away at it. There were fragments left in my head, but if I was to survive, I'd have to bring it all back again.

I had to think about this, I really did...

_You also should have picked up that pirates gun..._

* * *

_BreezeInMonochromeNight - Thankyou :)_


	8. Chapter 8

Amanaki village. There it was. Right there...

Well, what was left of it...

Merrick had lied to Anna, Amanaki was gone...

All that had been untouched by the blaze that had plagued it was the welcome sign.

I walked through the burnt out village. There was no sign of life, and the fire hadn't been recent. This place had been abandoned for months. The jungle was taking the village back, and greenery was starting to cover the scorched ground, hiding what had happened to it.

That meant no Sam.

I took the letter out of my bag and read it:

_Dear Sammy,_

_Have you painted your house yet?_

_I've been trying to get my room painted, but no luck yet._

_Anyway, my cousin (the one who brought you this) Renae, she needs your help. She's being chased by the pirates and my papa'ss men, but don't worry, she hasn't done anything wrong._

_I think you should take her to that cave by the colonists house. You know, where that hero guy kept his friends..._

_She'll be safe there until we can find out a way to help her escape._

_Love Anna_

_P.S Tell your paps to bring you over one day, I can't wait to see you._

The colonists house!

I knew where it was. It'd been built by a British business tycoon after world war one and used as a base by the japanese during world war two. I couldn't believe it'd actually held up this long.

_I wonder who lives in it now?_

I browsed the abandoned, burnt out village for supplies, but was only able to find an extra knife. I don't know if it was really any point of me hoping there'd be something left in the gun shop, which was almost in the centre of the village and the only building left standing.

The guns were gone; all that was left were a few rounds of ammo and some holsters, all useless.

I came out and made my way out of the village.

I followed a path, out of the village and came to a road. There was a bridge over a river and I decided to fill my bottle up. The jungle was quiet; all that I could hear was the soft breeze of the wind and the running water.

I put the knife I'd just found in my bag and took out the map. If I continued west, I'd get to the mansion.

It was about mid-day and I was pushing my way through some thick bush when I heard the dog bark. My stomach clenched and I flew round and saw it, bold as brass, snarling and growling, and running straight for me.

I yanked the knife out of my trouser pocket and as it jumped towards me, I grabbed on to it with my broken hand and pushed it down on to the ground. It bit down on my wrist, making me cry out. I dug the knife in to its chest, killing it instantly. Its jaw unlocked and I fell backwards.

In amidst the pain, I could hear people shouting. Pirates.

What I didn't know, was that I was standing right next to a pirates outpost. I pushed myself to me feet, actually saw the bullet before I heard it, and ran.

I fell through the shrubbery, rolled down a small hill and to some broken down tree trunks. I pulled myself over them, hidden from the pirates and waited..

I heard the pirates finding the dog and walking around, just meters away from me.

They didn't search for long,

"They must of got away" one said,

"Bastard killed my dog" another said.

The voices got quieter and only then did I continue on my trek, making sure I stayed in the bushes so that the pirates didn't get a shot out on me again.

As night descended, I reached the mansion and found that, it to, had been on fire.

I made myself walk inside and look at what was left of it. It seemed like someone else had inhabited the house since the last time I'd seen it.

If the fire wasn't enough, everything in the house had been turned upside down. The tables and chairs had been thrown across the room and the plates and cutlery had been scattered all over the floor.

I could see the blood on the floor from where someone had been attacked and dragged out. I followed it, out the door and to a small wooden canopy round the side of the house.

The corpse of whoever it had been was still there.

I took a step backwards and then left it. I didn't want to think too much in to it. Next to the mansion was a green house, but after some investigating, all I was able to find was some overgrown shrubs and a few empty bowls.

I made my way to the cave that was just down the hill a bit and went inside, finally hidden.

There was some old tent, a sleeping bag and an outline of a fire. I put down my backpack and gathered a few semi-wet twigs that were near the pond in the cave and put them on to the fire. I sat down next to it grabbed one of the matches, lit it and threw it on to the wood.

I sat back as it started to burn. It's strange how something so violent can bring such comfort.


	9. Chapter 9

It'd been three weeks since I'd moved in to the cave.

Out of all of the weeks, the first was the hardest. I had to stop thinking about everyone else and just hope that I was able to survive.

I had to find food, and apart from finding a relatively in-tacked fishing rod, I'd had to live off the crabs I'd caught at the beach. It was dangerous as hell, and I nearly got spotted by some locals, or sometimes, even pirates, who walked past, but, luckily, they were a bit too involved in whatever they were doing to notice my failed attempt at hiding.

After the first two days, I gave up on the crab hunting and went searching for something safer to eat. All the food in the house was either rotten or bug infested, and the only thing I actually found was a small tub full of, what I hoped was, aspirin.

I perused the cliffs near the house and found an entrance to another cave. Inside, I found some cave mushrooms.

I knew that a lot of the mushrooms on the island couldn't be trusted, and that some could even bring about death if eaten at the wrong time of year.

I'd also learned that if you cooked them, almost to the point of burning, all that hallucinogenic crap and fatalities of them was burnt out, leaving a very crisp, but edible food that was in abundance. Sadly, that was one of the things I had to experience to actually remember it.

I'd just found one of the mushrooms and had popped it into my mouth. It tasted a bit bitter, but the after taste was quiet sweet. There were no sudden side effects so I had another and gathered a few more up.

It was only an hour later that I realised something was up. All of a sudden, I felt funny... It was like a really happy but bizarre sort of feeling. Then, Murphy appeared at the entrance of the cave. I followed him out, my feet walking slower than I wanted them to.

When I got to the entrance, he was gone.

I'd been too slow, I'd missed him, but then I heard the sound of the boat. I turned my head to the water and spotted Murphy, he was waving at me from the fishing vessel. I walked forward, desperate to get off the island, but then I hit the water.

It brought me straight back to my senses, but I panicked and if it wasn't for the non-existent waves that night, there was no way I would have survived.

Fishing was near impossible. I'd even spent an hour digging up worms and only then, I'd caught the smallest mackerel possible.

I somehow managed, along with my mushrooms, to turn the fish in to two meals.

To help fill the days up, I'd retrieved some books from the Colonist's house and I'd just sat down, next to the fire, and read. I wasn't the biggest of readers, but I had nothing else better to do, and if I didn't do something, I was worried I'd go crazy.

I'd been reading in to a book about the human anatomy. I'd already imagined that the man who had lived in the house, and was now, probably lying on that porch, outside, had once been a doctor.

I was reading in to how the human hand worked, and it was pretty intriguing, but another book kept catching my eye.

It was some sort of journal. On the first page, the name written was Alec Eurnhardt.

It wasn't a recording of day to day events, and there were no dates on the pages, but it seemed to be in some sort of sequence.

Although, at first glance, they just seemed like thoughts muddled up on the paper.

On the second page of the journal, I noticed London was written in small font in the corner of the page, other than that one word, the page was blank.

On the next page, the first thought was written:

_Agnes is gone. My beautiful, beautiful Agnes. I already miss her and it's been only hours since her little body took its last breath. I don't know how I will go on. If only I'd been there just a minute before..._

After the first entry, the next page was much like the second, but instead of London in the corner, it was Rook.

_The red berries have been perfected! The mushrooms seem to go wonderfully with mango and the pirates have offered me a deal. If I supply them with the product, they'll allow me my freedom_.

The next few entries just spoke about the pirates visiting him daily, buying his product and giving him news on the outside world.

_Rodrey, one of the newer pirates, was brought to my door this morning. The man had been attacked by a crocodile and was nearly dead. The men who had brought him just asked if I could take the edge off, just give him some berries and let him drift peacefully away. I decided to do better, and right now, he is recovering in the next room. _

I hadn't decided whether he was mad, or just wanted to cling on to the fact that he could save people's life. That was the only entry about this Rodrey guy, and I never actually found out whether he lived or not. Alec seemed like an easily distracted man.

Most of the pages were similar, but they were more like thoughts, some lines, some a page, sometimes he was sad, other's he spoke of unicorns and dragons rising up from the ground. Then, there was another shift...

_My dear daughter Agnes. She has been returned to me. I have a second chance to keep my little girl from harm's way._

In the next few entries, I found that Agnes had not been returned to him, and the girl was called Daisy. It was one of the Brody boy's friends, and to keep her safe, Alec had put them in to the cave beneath the house, the very same cave I'd made my home in.

He named the people as they were saved, giving a small description of them

_Lisa, Jason's girlfriend,_

_Oliver, a very good pot chum,_

_Keith, a man from wall street,_

_Riley, the brother who died._

From what I had heard, Riley had in fact been alive, and was one of the reasons Jason had chosen to return home.

The last piece of writing looked as if it had been stopped suddenly:

_They say that Jason has murdered the pirate lord and has gone after the tyrant. I do not expect him to return from such a battle, but I promise to guard his friends with my_

The line ended in a squiggle and the small smattering of blood confirmed to me that he'd been attacked. By the pirates, or Rakyat, I wasn't sure.

The entries showed a man, lost, insane, but not completely gone. He had a passion, a humanity that clung on to his love of a dead daughter. You could almost call him an innocent victim in a war no one would survive.

I decided to bury him. It was the least I could do, especially as I'd scavenged his house and taken shelter in his cave.

* * *

It took me ages to write this because my keyboard is seriously broke.

Peppermintcookz - thank you


	10. Chapter 10

The second week, as well as reading through a book on herbal remedies the doctor had created, based on some of the plants you could find in Rook, I decided to do a bit of target practice.

As a child, I'd had lessons to defend myself in the jungle, and as we didn't have guns all those years ago, my father had trained me with a knife. I'd never had any brothers so my father was only ever able to pass on his knowledge to me.

I could throw just like the rakyat boys could, sometimes better, so I don't think he even cared.

What helped, I think, was that I was best friends with the new generations leader, and, with that, I was able to get away with almost anything. The Rakyat leaders were quite strict when it came to outsiders, but they made an exception for me.

It made me feel terrible that all those things my father had taught me, I hadn't used. His knowledge didn't really expand to the outside world. He'd have no idea how to use computers and phones if he'd come with us, but he would have learned. Hell, if he'd come with us, I don't think my mum would have given up, I don't think she would of refused the treatment.

I hated her for that. I know I shouldn't, but it wasn't fair. Why did I have to be left, all alone, without answers, without family?

_You were safe!_

_I was going to kill myself!_

In the third week of my residency in the cave, I realised something…

I had to find it again.

That survival instinct, the one covered by years of easiness, of being in a city where everything you need to survive was a couple minutes' walk away. I needed to have it back.

_The one law of the jungle: every man for himself..._

If I couldn't deal with it, I wouldn't survive, and that wasn't an option. I didn't know what to do, but I couldn't give up. I needed the truth! I needed this raging question in my head to be answered. Maybe then I could give up willingly, but, for now, I needed to find that instinct, the instinct that I'd learned so many years before.

I couldn't stay. The more I looked at the sign, the writing worn away by the constant hitting of the knife, I knew I'd just waste away in here. My life would be for nothing. This whole journey would have been a waste. Murphy, Anna, Mag, they would have died in vain...

My last Sunday at the Colonists house brought great things.

I had been rummaging around in some of the cupboards, just checking to make sure there was nothing I had missed when I'd came across the battered old pistol. I pulled it from the back of the cupboard and held it in my hands..

_Do you really want to use it?_ T

The answer was obvious. Without it, I'd die. I'd never be able to survive on the accuracy of a knife.

_Remember him, you killed him..._

I did remember. The last time I'd shot a gun, I'd killed someone...

_It had been necessary. If I hadn't done it, Murphy would have died._

_If you hadn't done it, he wouldn't have been ripped to shreds by a tiger..._

The voice was right...

_I couldn't just let him die..._

I threw some water over the fire, killing it, and packed up all my things in to the ruck sack. I left the fishing rod next to the basket I'd used to keep my fish in, for the next weary traveller who happened to pass through and made my way out of the cave and in to the morning darkness.

My plan was to go to Beris town. It was the last place my dad's old friend, Kai had lived, and if that was a failure, I'd go to Church town. I had to find him. Other than Mag and Anna, who had most probably been burned to death by Pirates and guns, he was the only person I was sure could help me.

I had nothing else better to do. I could go after Volker and take my revenge for what he did to Murphy, but without any sort of back-up, and with who knows what guarding him, I'd have . I had to be ready for this, whatever this may actually be.

_You really want to die don't you?_

_I didn't say that!_

_Then why are you going on a journey that will certainly kill you?_

My response to that was why not? What else did I have to lose?

There was always the choice of leaving. I could easily find a boat or commandeer one and just drive out in to the ocean, hoping to find a ship that could take me home again.

It was one of the choices, but it wasn't an option. I could think about it for days on end, but I couldn't leave. This place was my home, my real one. I had to know what had happened, and my curiosity, it would certainly kill me.

_And if that doesn't, they probably will…_

Apart from pirates and warriors, the only other thing I had to watch out for really was: Tigers, leopards, cassowary's, bears, poisonous snakes, dingo, rabid dogs (because no doubt they still had that epidemic going on), sharks and alligators, although the big brutes often liked to frolic near the lilies, so as long as I stayed away from them, I'd be fine.

So really, apart from the natives, who I was sure would give me no notice as long as they weren't part of the Rakyat, everything in the jungle would happily eat me alive, in more ways than one.

_What a fun life you're gonna have..._

I sat down outside the colonist's house in the morning air. Not once had anyone come up to search the place, other for me, so I felt comfortable sitting so far out in the open. It also helped that we were on a hill, so I was sure I'd be able to see them before they saw me.

I was also able to watch the sun rise.


	11. Chapter 11

I hadn't looked at the map for over three weeks, so it took me a while to find out where I was.

Beris town, it wasn't on the map, but I could remember rougthly where it was. If I went west from where I was sitting, I'd atleast be going in the right direction. When I'd lived here, Beris town was one of the villages not solely contolled by the Rakyat, and one of the places Kai had lived.

I remember him talking to my mum the day we'd left. They had been in the kitchen and I'd been sat on the stairs. It was a day after my dad had left, hours before I'd made my mum stop crying, but after three words, three muffled words I couldn't hear, she started again.

It hadn't been Vaas at the door. It had been Merrick. He'd literally pushed passed me and dragged my dad in to the back room. He left that night, the last thing he said to me was goodbye.

I waited for him the next day, but as the hours wore on, and the looks from the other villagers got tortuous, I knew the truth.

That morning, Kai had showed up, a bit more roughed up than usual. I didnt hear the whole conversation, but I heard enough.

"You must never tell her why!"  
"She'll hate me" my mum had cried  
"You must, never let her return, "

Kai had to help me. He was a warrior, and Merricks older brother, but he was also my father's best friend.

I placed the map in my bag and followed the trail down the hill.

I'd already cocluded that the red blots all over the map were some sort of enemy outpost. The doctor had written about them, about how Jason had overtook them, one by one, all on his own.

It was a miracle.. How on earth did he do something the Rakyat couldn't.

_Manipulation_

_Manipulation wouldn't give you that sort of power_

_No, but the jungle would_

_He wasn't a Rakyat_

_You don't need to be Rakyat to harness the jungles power, the jungle chooses you..._

_But he denied it..._

_No, he just wasn't their puppet.._

We'd learned about the jungle as kids. About the animals that could murder you, about the plants that could heal you, kill you or get you high. They also told us about this power that only a true warrior could harness, but my mum had always told me different. She said that anyone could harness the power, and the way they uses it defined them. The jungle wasn't always about fighting and survival.

You don't have to be from a Rakyat bloodline to become a warrior...

* * *

I walked across the beach. I should have been more aware of what was around me, but there hadn't been a blotch near where I was, I was sure of it.

Luckily, I'd seen the red dot of the snyper before it was on me, and when it dissapeared, searching for something else, I knew he'd missed me.

It was like the other one I'd bumped in to a few weeks before, but this time, there wasn't any dogs. I crept round the walls of the outposts, making sure that I listened to what they were saying. The last thing I wanted to do was walk in to one of them.

"This fucking heat man"  
"Stop your wining or I'll shoot you"  
"Can't we just do something?"  
"No, we're under strict rules, remember"  
"I think I liked him better dead"  
"If he was, we'd all be fucked"

I got to the othet side quickly. None of the men had noticed me and I was able to disappear back in to the shrubbery.

I didn't understanf what they meant, but I had this feeling it all led back to him.

_Keep going..._

* * *

**Really sorry that this one is such a short chapter... Enjoy though and thanks for reading :)**


	12. Chapter 12

The third night was colder than usual, but I kept walking. I was kind of scared that if I stopped, I might freeze to death, but then it started raining.

_It could be worse..._

I kept walking until I found some sort of shelter. It wasn't warm, but it was dry.

It looked like some sort of cave, but as I went deeper, I found that there was a bit more to it, as if people had actually been there once. It took me a couple minutes to come across the screen. In front of it, there was a projector, covered in dust.

I brushed the webs away and pressed the play button.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1_

'Please, no'

'I want you to say mom, dad'

'Mom, dad'

'I love you'

'I want to go home'

'Thats very nice, I want you to do it again'

'No'

'With more emotion, you can do it honey, come on'.

I pressed the pause button and stumbled away. I couldn't listen to it. For the last three weeks, I hadn't thought of him. I didn't want to imagine him as this person...

_People change..._

The worst thing was that it was right, people change and I'd have to deal with that. Aftet a few moments, something made me unpause the video. The screen came back on, starting where it left off.

'Yo Vass, that Brody boy just raped the common room of thr Medusa',

'Benny, Ben, I'm directing this film right now okay',

'You need to get out of here man, those fucking idiot cocks want you -'

'Will you please stop swearing. Okay, we are in the presence of a lady actress'

'Fuck you'

'Fuck me, hah, did you see what you just did there. You just turned my actress against me. Now get the fuck out of here, dissapear' he looked back to the girl. 'I'd like to apologise for my friend and his complete lack of tack, okay the guys a fucking arsehole, we're gonna win the oscar for this, okay'.

He was alive, or at least he had been when that Brody kid was around. Benny had been the voice of reason. He'd also been Vaas' bestfriend.

I turned the projector off as the tape restarted itself, I didn't want to watch it again.

I continued walking through the cave before I came to some beds. I dropped my backpack down on one of them. I'd already decided that everything was far too dark and dingy to have anyone actually living there.

I continued to walk until I came to the exit. The night was dark, much darker than it had been since I'd went in. I couldn't hear any signs of distress except the sound of rain hitting some water so I retreated back in to the safety of the cave.

I pulled out my sleeping bag and lied down on the matress. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep.

_I was walking through some tree's, following the sound of an alarm. It didn't seem like one of my best ideas, but the darkness had become overwhelming, as if it was trying to grab me._

_Suddenly, there was a light, and as I got closer, the alarms got deafening. All I could hear now was a constant ringing. I finally came to a clearing, but I kept to the bushes, hiding from the non-exisistent men that I thought would be patrolling the area._

_The light was coming from a ruined temple, built in to a mountain. I'd started walking towards the stairs when I felt the knife peirce my chest before I was thrown to the ground._

_I turned round to face my attacker, but my whole vision failed. All I could see was an outline._

_'Don't try to fix it'_

_'I'm not' I spluttered as the blood started to fill my mouth,_

_'Get out of here' the voice was all I could hear as I lied down and looked up at the blurry blue sky._

_I wasn't trying to fix anything..._

_What do you want? Revenge?_

_'Get out of here!' the voice repeated. I felt two hands grab me by the shoulders and pull me up. 'Leave, you don't belong here!'_

_'I do...' I felt my voice fail, but somehow, I was able to push my attacked away before I fell backwards on to something soft._

My eyes re-focused and I looked up at the cave ceiling.

Since I'd arrived, I hadn't felt right, I hadn't felt like I'd been home, but there were moments. Small little moments which told me I was. Little specks of home that was still there, that was still clinging, still fighting.

_I'm going crazy..._

_You're talking to me? You already are.._

* * *

_Enjoy :)_


	13. Chapter 13

Sunset cove. That's where I was.

I'd looked round, but there were no supplies worth taking, except for a few empty ammo pouches and some burnt out lamps, everything else was unusable.

I sat outside the cave and looked at the map. I pin pointed where the cove was, or where I think it was, and then found where Beris town. There was no way I was going in the right direction, but I didn't want to admit to myself that I'd probably been walking the wrong way since the beginning and at that moment, all I cared about was staying alive long enough to see the next sunrise.

It was quite weird. I saw the natives every now and then, but they just drove past me without a second look, as if they were scared if they looked too much, they'd get shot. I didn't expect them to help me, but it was as if they'd all turned cold to the sight of someone in need. Or, their lives were just as bad as mine and they needed to struggle to survive just as much as I did.

I hadn't seen any warriors since Badtown. The pirates, on the otherhand, were harder to miss..

I had thought that Jason Brody had given power back to the Rakyat. He'd liberated outposts and took out a whole organisation, and his fight hadn't even been honoured, the Rakyat didn't look like they'd done a thing to regain the island.

_A factor is useless without a leader..._

I'd made a decision on the fourth day to keep solely to the jungle. It didn't help with my directional skills, but it made me more aware of everything around me.

I'd learned as a kid how to travel around the jungle and find food, however, the skills had now fore-gone their sell-buy date. You didn't need to hunt a pig in a supermarket.

Apart from being a little too noisy and managing to scare the pigs and goats away. I listened to the jungle. I knew that if it went quiet, I was in trouble. I found myself a path. It wasn't man made by the looks of it, but it didn't look like it's been used recently.

The cry of the tapir haulted my walk and I pulled myself inbetween four tree's, partially hiding myself from whatever was tumbling towards me. The tapir crashed past me, crying for its life before it dissapeared in to the bushes. I took a deep breath, but then its attacker rampaged after it.

A Samatran tiger!

I let myself catch my breath before I pulled myself up, making sure I went the opposite way of the tiger. I'd had a couple close calls before, but never that close.

It was the end of the fourth day of me travelling when I found the wild boar, all alone, grazing on some grass.

The mushrooms I'd bought from the cave had ran out that morning and I hadn't come across any mango's, as of yet.

Most boar didn't run away when you charged them, they usually charged back, so, if I got behind it, jumped it and slammed the knife in to the back of it's neck, it'd work, right?

_What have you got to lose?_

Getting behind the smelly old creature was easy. I just didn't expect it to spook, turn round and charge at me.

It shuved me a few feet away from it and my hand slammed against the floor, letting the knife fly out of my hand and land a couple feet away from me.

I heard the boar huff and puff as it started to charge me again. I reached out with my bad hand, gripped on to the knife and slammed the knife into the back of its neck as it slammed in to my stomach.

It walked backwards away from me, the knife still in the back of its neck as it started running round before it collapsed. I felt really terrible that I'd killed it, almost as terrible when I'd stabbed the dog, but I'd had too. If I didn't, I'd probaby starve.

The jungle needed survivors. Not some useless british girl who couldn't do things for herself.

Come to think about it now, I wish I'd just caught some fish in the stream or grabbed a crab or two from the beach, but I was thinking about the long term. I'd have food for at least a couple weeks if I kept the food from spoiling, which I probably wouldn't have been able to do, and the hide would have given me some crafting material. None of them things would have come to work. I'd always hated skinning animals...

I thought I'd found a safe place to finish the long treacherous role of skinning the boar and cooking it's meat, but before I knew it, I was surrounded.


	14. Chapter 14

My head was pounding when I finally came round, awaken by the rage of an engine and binds pulling at my wrists. My whole body was aching, but I think it was due to the lack of movement on my part than anything else.

I looked towards the door in front of me. There was light seeping through it, although, everytime someone passed, the light left, making the engine seem even louder.

For a few moments, I thought I heard some sort of shouting, but I wasn't sure whether the engine was coming to a hault or something bad was happening outside. I tried to pull out of the grips around my hand, but it was no use. I was stuck.

All of a sudden, the door blew open and I shut my eyes. It must of been mid-day because the light felt blinding. I opened my eyes again a blurry figure walked towards me, brandishing something long and sharp in his hand. I closed my eyes again.

This is it I thought, but the blade, instead of slitting my throat, it slit the binds, letting my arms fall free and the person pick me up. My head started pounding as I was brought outside. The rush of cold air that suddenly hit me cleared my vision, but then I was dropped.

I hit the floor of a wooden balcony before rolling of the edge and hitting the ground.

I tried to push myself up as guns started to fire, but then something fell on top of me.

It rolled off quickly and then he stood up. It was a guy, a pirate no less. I looked over at him and he was scrambling for his gun that was just a couple feet away from him. As he picked it up, he looked at me,

"Stay low" he ordered as he aimed his gun, only to be gunned down immediately.

Shit

I started crawling to the underside of the building I'd fallen off, but as I got half way in, I felt someone pull me back out by my leg.

"Get off" I shouted as they grabbed on to my arms, holding me still,

A rakyat warrior walked in front of me. The tatau were complete and he was covered in knives. The most distinct one was a stone blade with a decorative handle that was attached to his side in a holster.

You've seen that knife before haven't you...

"We need to get her in plain view of the pirates" he was ordering the people behind me.

We were in some sort of village, which I quickly remembered to be Church town. There were no natives, but there were warriors all over the place, and the looks on their faces told me they were waiting for something, for someone.

The noise they were waiting for came minutes later. The alarms went off and pirates suddenly ran in, all guns blazing. The warriors went at them, and the blood bath began.

My capturer held me tightly as I watched the two factors go to war. They threw grenades, knives, flaming bottles. I even saw some C4 being thrown below some trucks before it was blown up, killing everyone around it, including the one who had activated it.

I watched, as a pirate and a Rakyat warrior clashed, using knives as their only weapons. Astonishingly, the pirate came out the victor, only to be mowed down by another Rakyat who had been waiting in the shadows with a shotgun.

Then I saw him, sitting on one of the trucks with a speaker in his hand.

"You little fucks really think you can defeat us?"

His voice made something stir inside me, something I hadn't felt in weeks. There was this insane fear building in the bottom of my stomach.

"Let me go!" I told them, despearate to be as far away as possible from all of it as possible, but still they kept me there, "Let go" I almost shouted before one of the warriors let go and the other put me in a headlock, something cold pressed against my throat.

"This is all your fault" I heard it, the voice, it was Merrick,

"Please Merrick, please, don't, I-",

"I'm going to kill you" I felt the knife start to move.

"Dad?" the words almost killed me, "Daddy, daddy, please" I looked over as Anna suddenly come out from the shadows and walked right in front of us,

"Anna, run!" I screamed at her as Merrick went quiet, "Run!",

"Dad?" she started walking towards us, a sadness in her face "Dadd-".

The gun shots ripped through her tiny body and she fell to the floor. She didn't stand a chance.

"No, no, no, no" I screamed, pulling away from his grip as I felt something bludgeon the back of my head...

Not again...


	15. Chapter 15

The next few hours, I had no idea what happened, but I could feel myself moving.

I don't know whether there was a car involved, or if I was carried, but I could hear voices and certain words kept repeating themselves in my mind, blocking out the others…

'Get her out'!  
'Volker...'  
'Fuck Volker'  
'Kill her'  
'They wouldn't...'  
'His eyes'  
'Twisted as we are'  
'No shit hermano...'

When I woke up, I didn't feel right. I don't know whether my head had been hit too hard, or if they'd drugged me…

_They probably did_...

Wherever I was, it was cold. I could even feel the damp rising up from the floor and on to the thin mattress I'd been laid on. There were no windows, no light. I didn't even know if there was a door or not.

I pushed myself to my feet clumsily. I felt like I'd been drinking and as I stumbled over to a wall, I nudged something with my knee and it smashed on the floor, the noise of which started to make the whole room spin.

The noise seemed to have shattered some sort of barrier and the pain was unbearable. The back of my head felt like it had been smacked with a brick and my leg suddenly buckled in pain, unable to take anymore.

I must have cried out because suddenly there was light, and then darkness again. I wanted all the pain to just go away as I fell in to a sudden deep sleep, but I didn't.

* * *

I knew where I was before I even opened my eyes. The screaming wasn't as loud as before, but I could hear the signature dubstep music. I was back with the pirates, again.

_They saved you..._

I picked myself up from the matress. This room had a light in it, a warm light, that was coming from the burning lantern on the small table next to the door.

I couldn't feel any pain, as if I'd dreamt the agonising pain a few hours before.

It was only when I heard all the commotion that the pain came back, but there was less of it. It wasn't unbearable anymore.

"Don't go in there man"  
"When did you! Start telling me what to do" it was Vaas,  
"It's not gonna help anyone"  
"Get. The. Fuck. Out of my way!"  
I heard something thud at the door, but it was locked.

I felt my leg collapse beneath me and amidst the pain, I pulled myself over to one of the corners.

"Vaas, you need to take care of the tourists",

"I'm busy" Vaas hissed,

"If you don't, Volker will know something's up, we can't risk it" the other man told him.

Everything went quiet.

The silence felt deadly. It was as if it was just building in to something horrific. This bit of peace would be etched with fear.

It was only then I remembered.

_Anna's dead..._

I'd seen the bullets rip through her like she was made of jelly.

_Why did they save you?_

The voice was having its own debate inside my head, but I ignored it. Anna was dead.

I felt the sobs start to build in my throat, but then I heard a rifle start.

It just seemed to get louder and louder. I pulled myself in to the foetal position. Was this finally going to be the end of my life?

_They saved you!_

The voice, it screamed at me.

The rifle stopped, and I noticed quickly that so had the screaming. The music had even been turned down.

I took a deep breath before I took my hands away from my face. The room seemed lighter and it was only then that I noticed the window. From where I was, I could only see the sky, but a grey cloud had spread across it.

My mind told me that I was safe, even if it was just for a moment. I'd have to face up to him. The pirates, the Rakyat, I wasn't scared of them.

I had to be brave. I had to leave the crying for a later day. I would do what I had come here to do.

I stretched out my leg and looked at the cut in my leg. The stitches had come out, making more slits in my skin, but the initial stab wound had healed up quite nicely. The scar was still a little bloody and slightly open in some spots, but if I was able to get a hold of a bandage, I should be able to pull it all back together.

I looked at the room. The place was bare. It had a small table next to the door, a mattress and a bed.

I pulled myself up, trying to use the walls as support.

Then I heard a key.

I stopped moving. Everything else drowned out except for the increased rapidness of my heart and the key turning in the lock.

_Keep it together_

I took a step forward as the door opened and a pirate walked in.

My heart clenched...

It wasn't Vaas...

"Renae"

"Benny?" My leg gave up and I fell, but he caught me, wrapping his arms round me tightly.

"I was so sure you were dead" he said as I wrapped my arms round his neck and clung on tightly. "I can't believe it's you".

Benny didn't look as if he'd changed. He still had his dark brown hair and light brown eyes, and this sort of edge to him, but he was older.

He'd aged much more than I had and he was only twenty nine, a year older than I was. His face was etched with lines and there was this desperation in his eyes, as if he'd been holding on to something and he couldn't anymore.

Even when he spoke, I felt the change.

Benny stayed masterfully away from the subject of Vaas. Part of me felt relieved, but the other part needed to know. He never mentioned anything about the island, or about what happened to it.

He asked me how Britain had been. How it was different. He seemed content to listen to me, but I could feel the change between the both of us. We'd grown up in completely different worlds, a world I now had to get adjusted too.

He started going off about this celebrity he'd heard about. In general, it was a rant and a forced one at that.

"What happened Benny, what really happened?"

"Girl, I can't tell you" he shook his head and looked down at the floor.

I knew what he meant, but I had a feeling that the person who'd be able to, couldn't.

"Just tell me what they want with me? Why am I so in danger when their around"

Benny knew what I meant, but at first, it looked like he wasn't going to tell me, but then he changed his mind.

"You were supposed to be dead. I expect they just want to finish what they started before too many find out".

I laid off the subject. Benny wasn't the one who could give me the answers I so desperately needed.


	16. Chapter 16

Benny left me for a couple hours, saying he would bring back a bit of food and make sure the camp doctor was free for a check-up.

Before he left, he gave me my bag, free of knives and pistols, for their safety or my own, I wasn't sure.

Other than missing those few possessions, I still had the map which I spread out on the floor.

Benny had told me that we were near the beach on the east side, opposite the small island just off the coast.

I found where I thought I was and then studied the rest of the map. Benny had promised that I was safe. None of the pirates were going to hurt me.

I did wonder what their plans were though.

I was searching for herons peak when the door opened and Benny walked in, a delicious aroma coming from the plate in his hands,

"What is that smell?',

"Cooked Venison",

"It smells delicious"

"Here you go",

He put it down next to me as he sat down,

"You even get a fork" Benny passed the piece of silver to me,

"Such a privilege" I smiled before digging in.

I hadn't had something this nice for weeks.

Once I'd finished, I past it back to Benny and rolled the map up before reaching for the bag and putting it back in.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine, but where did you find that captain?"

Benny was the first person to ever ask about Murphy.

_This is your chance..._

I didn't think I could talk about him so quickly after he'd died, but I felt like it would give me some sort of peace, as if I could forgive myself.

"I met him outside a pub..."

_Murphy had been lying on the floor, drunk and bewildered and staring up at the stars._

_The night was unusually warm, the sky clear and there was a sense of calm in the waters. As if the mission I'd been on to find a ship to Rook had came to a hault._

_I didn't pay any attention to the dribbling drunk at first when I sat on the bench near the waters edge, but then he started mumbling._

_It was just words to begin with, random words I couldn't understand. Then he stood up and stumbled over to me._

_"What... Are... You-" he fell to the floor and lied there for a few seconds before he rolled round on to his back, staring back up at the stars again._

_He continued after a few more seconds, _

_"Trying to do",_

_"Get someplace..."_

_"Then why don't you?'_

_"Because it's far out there" I nodded to the sea,_

_"France?" he slurred as he stood up again,_

_"Now, far, far away"_

_"How do you get there" he sat down on the bench,_

_"I need a boat" I shrugged, "but it seems no one wants to go there",_

_"Where's there?"_

_"Rook Island..."_

"And that was the end of that" I told Benny,

"He seemed like a good man",

"He was",

"Do you miss him?",

"Yeah, he was the only friend I had in the world. It was like we were on this sort of adventure, and we were both searching for the same thing, but it was completely different at the same time",

"He'd be proud of you" Benny told me, but I shook my head,

"Before he was taken of with the tiger, he seemed angry, as if he blamed..." I choked. I could feel the sob in my throat,

"You won't know this, but as they led him away, he kept repeating 'be strong, be brave' and he wasn't talking about himself",

"I've been far from brave",

"You've survived the jungle with nothing, but knives for weeks"

"Yeah, but I've been hiding in a cave beneath the colonists house, eating mushrooms, jumping of cliffs and reading, that's not being brave, that's being a coward!"

"Yeah, but you left the cave though. You could of stayed, but you didn't",

"Don't try and make me feel better by making me look courageous",

"If you weren't, the jungle would of ate you alive. The Rakyat would of found you much quicker than they did, you'd be dead already",

"Yeah, but if I stayed, Anna wouldn't have been shot by pirates" the guilt hit me then.

"Badtown was gonna happen anyway. It wasn't your fault Ren",

"No, when you were all fighting, Anna was there and-",

"Renae, she wasn't",

"She was, and Merrick"

"Neither of them were there",

"But I saw the bullets rip through her"

"Ren, I swear they weren't".

_You really are going mad..._

Benny changed the subject instantly, asking instead how my small jungle adventure had gone,

"I found sunset cove, a projector and a film",

"The one with that Brody guys girlfriend",

"Yeah, you said something about him" I shrugged. Benny went to say more, but I shook my head, "No, don't Ben, I don't want to hear about it",

"Okay, what else?",

"I had a run in with a tiger, sort off",

"How close?"

"Inches maybe", I told him, "It ran passed me when it was going after a tapir",

"You obviously didn't smell good enough",

"I smell worse than you",

"You do smell awful" Benny laughed,

"I can take you to the beach if you'd like",

"Are you sure thats allowed" I asked,

"You're not a prisoner Ren",

"Why do I feel like one then?", the whole locking me in the dark thing didn't help his words,

He avoided my question, "You can leave if you want to", why did it not feel as easy as walking out of the camp then, "But we just want you to be safe Ren, we don't want you to walk in to the Rakyat or the mercenaries",

"I get that",

"So, would you like to go for a swim?". I agreed, hoping that somehow it'd make me feel a little better.

Benny asked me to wait five minutes whilst he got me a few things in which I spent the time exploring the room. The cupboard didn't have anything in it other than some dust.

As I turned back, Benny walked in, the doctor in Badtown following behind him,

"We meet again" the doctor exclaimed as he set a bag down on the small table. I just stared in aww at him.

How the hell did he get out

"You know each other?" Benny wondered,

"Yes, yes, it was I who first treated young Renae",

"Well-",

"How?" suddenly came out of my mouth, reminding both men that I was still here, the doctor looked at me and answered,

"My mind was needed elsewhere" he said as if he was worth more than us,

"How did you get out?",

"I was never there, now, enough talk, let's have a look at that leg", the doctor changed the subject and I knew my questions would go on deaf ears.

He re-stitched it, complimenting on the cleanliness of it and then gave me a few bandages to strap it up with. He left it unwrapped for now.

Once the doctor had left, closing the door behind him, the silent Benny, who had brooded over in the corner suddenly came a live again,

"Lets go" he announced as he threw a towel and an extra pair of kaki pants he was carrying, at me,

"You don't have anything a bit more my style" I joked,

"We weren't sure that you'd want to wear a dead woman's clothes and I think they suit you" Benny laughed. I shivered at the thought of it and followed him outside.

As much as I wanted it not to be, the camp was bustling with pirates. They were scattered around in groups of twos and threes, either sitting on balconies or on the numerous couches that were sat around.

They didn't look as much as I thought they would, but some did. Even when I went through the gates, it felt like they were still staring.

"What do you think of our place then?",

"It seems cleaner than I remember" I shrugged,

"You weren't here before" Benny shook his head, "You were in the slave camp, that's a bit away from here" he explained,

"Where's here then?" I asked as we walked through the gates.

"Our main base" Benny explained, "We used to stay over on the small island to the east, but Vaas decided he wanted a change".

I kept quiet and listened as Benny described to me the hardship they had put in to building the huts and storage units, but it had been something that had kept most of the pirates away from the slave trade for a while, almost given them an objective, but that didn't mean that the vacationers were safe, it meant each one of them ended up dead or buried in sand, where they eventually did die.

The beach wasn't far and we took the longer route, which meant avoiding the road and any suicidal warriors wanting to start a fight.

The well-used path was small, but walkable. The jungle trees towered over us, shielding us from the sun and making Benny whine a little as he got hit in the face a few times with some run-away twigs.

I kept quiet as I watched Benny walk. When we'd been younger, he was the boy who would eat an extra sitting at breakfast, dinner and tea, didn't have much luck training with knives and wasn't very social. That's where me and Vaas came in.

His dad and mum were both from America, they'd came here on a holiday and hadn't left. His father became a friend to my father, which allowed for Benny to be more involved with the Rakyat kids.

He'd grown a lot since our teens. The last time I'd seen him, he'd been seventeen with long brown hair and a chubby posture, but now, he'd lost the weight, cut his hair short and gained a few pounds in muscle.

He'd always had a nice looking face, but it looked like all the stress and hardship of the last few years had gotten to him. It was only then, as the path got bigger and we walked side by side, that I noticed the dark beneath his eyes and the lines etched in to his face.

I wanted to ask him what he'd been through, but I stopped myself. I'd started to see it, the hopelessness behind his eyes, the worry, the death. He seemed like all the other pirates on the outside and while he was amidst them, but I realised, that away from them, you could see what had really happened to him.

We came to the beach. The water was calm and cool and I just sat in the shallow water and relaxed for the first time in weeks.

During my weeks in the cave, even whilst sleeping, I'd felt like I'd been half awake.

Benny had walked in the opposite way, across the shoreline, patrolling, giving me some privacy.

I washed the mud out of my hair, scrubbed my face with the flannel Benny had threw at me before he'd left and then went to my feet.

They were absolutely stinking.

Once I'd finished, I sat back on the sand, took off the pants I was wearing, dried my legs off and then put the new ones on.

My top was slightly splattered with water, but I'd live.

I thought about sitting there and waiting for Benny to return, but as I looked round, I realised he was gone.

I pushed myself up. I was panicking. Where the hell had he gone!

As I started walking cautiously in the way I'd seen him leave in, having nothing else to do, my head started to stir

_Don't..._

Eventually, everything in my body was telling me to stop, but it was only the sound of the horn that stopped me dead in my tracks.


	17. Chapter 17

I was frozen for a moment. What was I supposed to do now? Benny was no where to be seen and the noise was getting closer. My tensed muscles started to ache, but just when it felt like the source of the horn was right behind me, it stopped.

I swung round, expecting someone to be there, but the beach was still as empty as I'd left it. I turned back and took a few more tentative steps towards the corner that would lead me on to another part of the beach.

I knew I was over-reacting a bit. That wasn't a sign of the Rakyat, it was probably just one of the pirates messing round, but I didn't know which pirate.

As I turned the corner, I saw Benny standing next to a red truck. He was talking to the driver, who was also a pirate and in the back, there was a cage with at least two people in it. They were hunched like dogs, their bodies bloodied and beaten.

All-of-a-sudden, two more pirates, armed with rifles came from out of the bush, followed by Vaas who was holding one of those old native hunting horns. He talked to Benny and then nodded at the driver.

The driver seemed to press something within the truck and the back of it suddenly lifted up and the cage tumbled off. The cage door broke off and the two men stumbled out slowly, looking warily at their surroundings before gaining their feet and running,

"I'll give you thirty seconds" Vaas shouted as they ran off down the beach. I felt my heart pull at it's strings, as if it was just as scared as my head was of the man I'd been friends with.

Benny laughed at the scene, reminding me of the fact I didn't want to believe. He was just as bad as Vaas was, he was just as bad as any other blood-thirsty pirate. I wasn't safe here. I'd never be safe here. This island was going to kill me.

I made myself turn away from the scene as the guns started firing, aiming at the terrified men who were now going out of view and entering the jungle. The two pirates who had accompanied Vaas were now running after them, whilst Benny and Vaas continued to laugh.

In my head, I contemplated my options. I told myself I could run, that I could survive in the jungle and kill for food, but I was scared that it'd get to a point where I'd have to kill others to survive. Once the Rakyat found out I was still alive, they wouldn't leave me live. Not anymore.

I also said that I could stay. For now, despite the strangers all around me, I was safe. For now, I'd just have to find a place in this cruel factor and find a way to survive. I'd also have to find out the truth, and somehow, I'd have to get it out of Vaas.

As I sat on the sand, where Benny had left me. I contemplated how I would do such thing. I knew, in time, it would get better, I wouldn't be as terrified, I'd get braver, but I knew, in time, it could also get worse, I'd witness and experience things that would make me completely give up on life. I'm surprised I hadn't done it already. Little things would make you see another side you wished never exsisted, but knew, unconsciously, they did.

Benny joined me after a further five minutes, thankfully alone. He commented on the view and then led me back to the camp.

We were both silent as we made our way through the undergrowth.

The jungle whispered noises around us, making every break of a twig a little louder and the breeze make a soft rustle as it blew through the grass. It reminded me of home, of the place that I'd once lived, but had been broken by power and control.

The hut I resided in was almost deadly quiet when Benny left, promising me food in a couple hours. All I could do was lie on the bed and look up at the rickety wood ceiling.

I really need to find something to do. Otherwise, I feared I may go insane.

_I've told you a thousand times already. You already insane..._

* * *

The next few days were quiet. Vacation season was over and all the pirates had were a few rejects and natives to play with.

Benny came and went, but we didn't talk. Not as much as before.

I could understand why. I brought things back that he didn't want to remember.

I was doing my usual, staring up at the ceiling when the door suddenly flew open. It banged on the wall, almost making the whole room shake before Vaas walked in, this evil look in his eye.

_Shit, shit, shit..._

I fell off the bed and scrambled to the corner as he walked towards me, a knife in his hand.

He stopped a couple feet away from me before holding it up. It was the one the Rakyat warrior had attached to his belt that day I'd been 'rescued'.

"Do you remember this?" Vaas asked me, he sounded as if he was on the edge of shouting. He held the knife with two hands, turning it round, "Do you remember how we scoured the island for this damn thing?". I kept quiet. "You know who found it? A fucking American bitch!" he answered. He looked at the knife and then to me, a smirk on his face as he laughed coldly before grabbing me.

I was so scared I didn't even fight back. All I could think was that I was going to die. The guy had gone insane and he was going to slit my throat.

He pulled me up and then turned me round, shoving me up against the wall, so my back was to him.

All sorts of things were running through my head, but I was so scared. In that one moment, I wanted to die, but I didn't...

_Fight back god damn you..._

I couldn't.

"I think your taking Benny for a ride" he whispered in my year, "I think your an imposter", I could smell the weed on his breath, "I think you need to prove that you are who you say you are". I squeezed my eyes shut as he put his hand on my back. I didn't want to think about what was coming next, but I knew, that if it did, I'd go throw myself off a god damn cliff face.

The next few moments seemed to go in slow motion. All I felt was the raising of my top, but then he stopped. I waited for what would come next, the thoughts were unbearable and I just wanted my life to be done with, but something changed.

I froze as I felt him begin to trail the scar on my back, the one where I'd got bitten by a shark as a child...

_Me and Vaas had been sitting on the rocks, admiring the crabs that were scurrying past us and getting sucked up by the water, over and over again._

_Benny was a few feet away from us, making himself a sand castle and my dad was sitting near the small beach cabin. I was only ten at the time, but I still felt like I could do anything, which included climbing off the rocks and going in to the water._

_Usually, the shallow water was fine, but for some stupid reason, I must have decided that it was no fun and went out further. I was always really cautious of sharks, from a young age, I knew what could happen to unsuspecting swimmers if they weren't careful, but I could stand up from where I was and my head was still above water, so I assumed that nothing would swim up behind me._

_What I didn't know was that it was breeding season and the juvenile sharks liked to swim around in the shallows and catch the small crabs and turtles which thought they were safe._

_I can't even remember the event. I just remember waking up after it._

_My mum told me that the shark had pulled me down, trying to drown me and then it had been shot, but not before it's teeth had torn in to my flesh, leaving an unruly scar on my back._

Vaas suddenly left. Leaving me to fall on to the wood and let my heart stop racing.

Benny came in looking annoyed, but at least, he wasn't annoyed at me. He helped me get to my bed and then sat down next to me.

"I tried to tell him, I'm sorry".

I didn't say anything back.

"He just need's time" Benny told me, "You've brought back things he's trying to forget, to believe didn't happen",

"Why doesn't he just kill me then?" I suddenly asked. The question caught Benny off guard and his small silence told me I'd hurt him, but he answered anyway,

"Because if he does, he'd have to deal with the guilt all over again",

"He can't feel guilt" I heard myself saying, "He kills people for fun",

"He kills them to show control, to get power" Benny told me as if it was obvious,

"And when will he stop?" I asked, "When does control and power turn in to nothing?",

"When there's no more power to get" Benny shrugged. It was only then that I realised that he'd given up on his friend and had decided to just follow suit. Benny didn't want to be the voice of reason anymore, he'd tried and failed and was just going to follow orders and enjoy this insane life he had.

He was burying the past, the past which had made him in to this monster.

My fight was futile, almost useless.

How was I going to get truth from the two people in the world that was trying to bury it in a hole, and how long would it take for them to dispose of me when they realised I was stopping the past from being forgotten.

_Days maybe..._

The day after, I went to see the doctor in his hut, which, fortunately, was just across the way from mine.

There were only a few pirates at this time in the morning, but they only glanced at me as they patrolled the cages of sleeping prisoners.

The doctor was at his desk, writing away,

"I need to talk to you" I told him as I sat down on the chair next to the desk. He looked up suddenly and smiled,

"That's what I'm here for" he exclaimed as he moved the paper work aside, giving me his full attention.

I stopped, to think about what I was going to say, but it started almost immediately.

_Don't you ever think about such a thing, what would you do without me..._

"There's this voice in my head" I suddenly said, ignoring it's words,

"Voices, well it can only mean one thing" the doctor shrugged, "Your insane",

"But it's just one?" I told him, "And sometimes it doesn't even sound like me, and other times it does?",

"Still, your insane" this doctor really wasn't helping, but it's as if he red my mind, "To quiet it, you have to find the cause of it, when did it start?",

"I'm not sure, but I think it was the first day I woke up in the slave camp" I told him,

"Had you been hit?" he wondered, grabbing a brown folder from a drawer in the desk,

"I think I hit my head on the boat" I told him, not being able to remember the details,

"Hmm" he said as he opened it, "You could be suffering from paronoia" he shrugged, "Or maybe, it just woke up a part of you that was forgotten",

"So, I'm not insane" I asked, a small amount of hope that was squished instantly,,

_He already said you were..._

"I don't know" the doctor shrugged again, "Hell, everybody else is, you'd fit in perfectly" he laughed.

I left him. Madness was doing the exact same thing, over and over again, expecting things to change.

I wasn't doing that..

_Are you sure?_

The truth would kill me or save me. My life in Britain was long gone, I couldn't just leave knowing the truth was just there. Just beyond my reach.

I knew it'd be hard, but if I did try, over and over and over again, I'd know that at least, I didn't give up. I didn't fall at the last hurdle. I had a right to know what happened, what made everything in my perfect little world fall to peices.

I also needed to know, knowing that eventually, the unknown would swallow me up.

To do this, I couldn't give up on a hopeless act like everyone else had. I had to make them see the truth and deal with it. I had to make them remember every little bit of it, I had to dig up every peice of information. If anything, I owed it to them. Without the past, they'd never move on to the future. Benny would keep lying to himself and Vaas would keep on killing, trying to gain this power he'd never get.

* * *

**A/N: I didn't realise this chapter was so long, I hope you guys enjoy :)**


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